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Poverty  in  Baltimore 

and  its  causes 


STUDY  OF  SOCIAL  STATISTICS 

IN  THE 

CITY  OF  BALTIMORE^ 

FOR  THE 

YEARS  1916-1917 


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ALLIANCE  OF  CHARITABLE  AND  SOCIAL  AGENCIES 

McCOY  HALL 

BALTIMORE,  MARYLAND 


POVERTY  IN  BALTIMORE  AND  ITS  CAUSES 


A  study  undertaken  by  the  Alliance  of  Charitable  and  Social 
Agencies  of  Baltimore,  and  conducted  by  the  Bureau  of  State  and 
Municipal  Research  under  the  supervision  of  a  committee  ap- 
pointed by  the  Alliance.  Financed  by  an  appropriation  made  to 
the  Alliance  for  this  purpose  by  the  Mayor  and  City  Council  of 
Baltimore  through  the  Supervisors  of  City  Charities. 


November  15,  1918 


To  the  Mayor  and  City  Council: 


For  1917  and  1918  you  authorized  an  appropriation  of  $5,000 
unique,  it  is  believed,  in  the  history  of  American  cities,  "for  a 
study  of  the  causes  of  poverty." 

To  you,  and  to  the  public  of  Baltimore,  we  have  the  honor  to 
report  herewith  upon  results  thus  far  attained.  It  is  our  hope 
that  this  modest  beginning  may  be  followed  up  not  only  in  Balti- 
more but  elsewhere. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

ALLIANCE  OF  CHARITABLE  AND  SOCIAL  AGENCIES, 

JOHN  C.  ROSE, 
GEORGE  E.  BARNETT, 
ROSCOE  C.  EDLUND, 

Advisory  Committee. 

BUREAU  OF  STATE  AND  MUNICIPAL  RESEARCH, 

W.  H.  MALTBIE,  Director 

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POVERTY  IN  BALTIMORE 


INTRODUCTORY  STATEMENT  BY  THE 
ADVISORY  COMMITTEE 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  STUDY 

Fourteen  well  known  philanthropic  organizations,  comprising 
nearly  all  the  large  non-sectarian  and  non-institutional  charitable 
societies  of  the  city,  constitute  the  Alliance  of  Charitable  and 
Social  Agencies  of  Baltimore.*  For  some  time,  a  number  of 
persons  interested  in  the  work  of  these  societies  and  particularly 
in  the  larger  constructive  purposes  of  their  association  together 
in  the  Alliance,  have  felt  that  Baltimore,  long  a  leader  in  the 
development  of  the  best  forms  of  organized  charitable  endeavor, 
might  again  point  the  way  and  provide  inspiration  in  the  age-long 
struggle  against  poverty,  by  inaugurating  a  systematic  and  scien- 
tific study  of  the  causes  of  poverty  that  should  be  akin  in  spirit 
and  purpose  to  investigations  in  the  field  of  medical  science  into 
the  origin  of  disease,  the  methods  of  transmission,  and  the  means 
not  of  cure  only  but  of  prevention. 

Within  a  generation,  there  has  been  marvelous  progress  in  pre- 
ventive medicine,  to  which  not  a  little  has  been  contributed  by  the 
medical  schools  and  leaders  of  the  profession  in  Baltimore,  and  the 
scientific  studies  which  have  been  carried  on  in  this  city.  As  a 
result,  certain  diseases  have  been  brought  under  control  and  death 
rates  lowered  throughout  the  country.  Today  the  lowest  death 
rates  are  not  in  rural  communities  but  in  well-administered  cities 
where  the  principles  of  preventive  medicine  are  best  applied. 

*  The  Baltimore  members  of  the  Alliance  are:  Babies'  Milk  Fund  Associa- 
tion, Federated  Charities,  Friendly  Inn  Association,  Henry  Watson  Children's 
Aid  Society,  Instructive  Visiting  Nurse  Association,  Mental  Hygiene  Society, 
Mothers'  Relief  Society,  Prisoners'  Aid  Association,  Social  Service  Corpora- 
tion (including  Baltimore  Council  of  Boy  Scouts,  Public  Athletic  League,  Law- 
rence House  and  Warner  House),  Maryland  Tuberculosis  Association  and 
Travelers'  Aid  Society.  The  Maryland  Children's  Aid  Society  is  also  a  member 
of  the  Alliance,  but  its  work  lies  entirely  in  the  counties  outside  of  Baltimore. 


Those  who  urged  the  inquiry  into  the  causes  and  conditions  of 
poverty,  the  results  of  which  are  here  set  forth,  believe  in  the 
possibility,  if  not  probability,  that  scientific  and  thorough  studies 
in  our  cities  into  the  life  and  work  of  the  people  who  suffer  from 
poverty,  will  in  the  long  run  yield  results  comparable  to  those 
already  achieved  in  the  field  of  medicine.  It  should  be  possible 
at  least  to  discover  with  some  degree  of  accuracy  the  extent  and 
character  of  extreme  poverty,  and  probably  its  main  causes,  how- 
ever complex  and  difficult  of  classification  they  may  at  first  seem. 
With  the  causes  known,  means  of  prevention  may  be  discovered 
and  applied. 

In  medical  research,  the  first  steps  are  usually  the  compilation, 
tabulation  and  study  of  existing  data  relating  to  the  disease  under 
investigation.  It  was  thought  that  like  methods  could  be  wisely 
applied  to  the  study  of  the  causes  of  poverty.  It  was  fully  recog- 
nized that  much  of  the  initial  work  could  have  none  other  than  a 
negative  result.  Those  who  study  disease,  make  up  many  tables, 
most  of  which  are  without  interest,  and  the  majority  of  them 
in  the  long  run  turn  out  to  be  valueless,  or  at  best  of  little  worth. 
In  the  investigation  of  typhoid,  how  much  data  was  toilsomely 
gathered,  and  in  the  end  found  useless!  Nevertheless,  bounds 
have  been  set  to  that  centuries  old  scourge  of  mankind,  and  its 
power  to  exact  tribute  of  lives  is  fast  passing  away.  Such  a 
victory  could  not  have  been  won  had  not  hundreds  of  investigators 
in  medicine  and  other  sciences,  given  minute  examination  to  all 
the  statistical  and  other  data  that  seemed  to  have  even  the  most 
remote  connection  with  it. 

APPLICATION  FOR  CITY  APPROPRIATION 

Inspired  by  such  hopes,  in  the  Fall  of  1916,  application  was 
made  to  Mayor  James  H.  Preston,  and  through  him  to  the  Board 
of  Estimates  of  Baltimore,  for  an  appropriation  of  Five  Thousand 
Dollars,  to  be  expended  under  the  direction  of  the  Board  of  Super- 
visors of  City  Charities,  in  compiling,  tabulating  and  studying  the 
data  existing  in  the  records  of  the  societies  comprising  the  Alli- 
ance and  of  other  charitable  organizations  in  Baltimore  that 
might  be  induced  to  cooperate. 

No  one  could  say  with  certainty  that  such  an  inquiry  would 
result  in  anything  of  real  value.    Its  full  value  certainly  could  not 


be  realized  unless  like  studies  were  subsequently  made  here  and  in 
many  other  places.  The  most  notable  scientific  studies  of  poverty 
thus  far  attempted  have  been  in  the  English  cities  of  London, 
York,  Northampton,  Warrington,  Stanley  and  Reading.*  Illumi- 
nating, suggestive,  and  comprehensive  as  these  are,  they  suffer  for 
us  from  the  fact  that  conditions  in  England  are  not  fully  compar- 
able with  conditions  here.  An  important  American  study  of  5000 
cases  under  the  care  of  the  Charity  Organization  Society  of  New 
York  in  the  years  1907  and  1908  is  reported  in  ''Misery  and  Its 
Causes,"  by  Edward  T.  DeVine.  Frequent  and  constant  studies 
must  be  made,  many  in  different  cities  should  be  undertaken  simul- 
taneously, and  there  must  be  constant  interchange  of  experience 
between  many  groups  working  independently  and  probably  over 
a  long  period  of  years,  if  significant  results  are  to  be  obtained, 
and  a  truly  constructive  and  preventive  program  prepared. 

The  difficulties  in  the  way  seemed  but  a  challenge,  however,  to 
the  best  thought  and  effort,  and  after  due  deliberation,  the  officers 
of  the  Alliance  asked  the  Mayor  for  a  municipal  appropriation  to 
begin  the  study.  So  far  as  was  known,  no  other  municipality  had 
ever  spent  money  for  such  a  purpose,  but  the  possibilities  of  the 
plan  appealed  strongly  to  the  Mayor  who  presented  the  matter  to 
the  Board  of  Estimates  and  the  City  Council. 

Whatever  may  seem  to  be  the  value  of  the  present  report,  it  is 
the  hope  of  the  committee  that  the  courage  and  vision  shown  by 
the  Mayor  and  his  colleagues  in  authorizing  the  appropriation  thus 
suggested,  will  be  fully  recogfiized,  and  that  the  present  study  may 
lead  to  many  such  inquiries  both  in  this  and  other  cities. 

THE  WORK  PLACED  IN  THE  HANDS  OF  THE  BUREAU  OF 
STATE  AND  MUNICIPAL  RESEARCH 
The  planning  and  direction  of  the  study,  involving  an  amount  of 

*  Life  and  Labour  of  the  People  in  London,  10  volumes  by  Charles  Booth, 
assisted  by  Ernest  Aves;  Macmillan  Co.,  1890-1900. 

Poverty — A  Study  of  Town  Life  (in  York),  by  B.  Seebohm  Kountree;  Mac- 
millan Co.,  1901. 

Livlihood  and  Poverty — A  Study  in  the  Economic  Conditions  of  Working- 
Class  Households  in  Northampton,  Warrington,  Stanley  and  Reading.  Made 
for  the  Ratan  Tata  Foundation  (University  of  London),  by  A.  L.  Bowley  and 
A.  R.  Bumett-Hurst;  G.  Bell  &  Sons,  London,  1915. 


8 

statistical  labor  that  can  scarcely  be  comprehended  by  those  who 
have  not  had  personal  experience  in  such  matters,  was  placed  by 
the  Alliance  (with  the  approval  of  the  Supervisors  of  City  Chari- 
ties through  whom  the  appropriation  was  made)  in  the  hands  of 
the  Bureau  of  State  and  Municipal  Research.  The  Bureau  has 
had  as  an  advisory  committee,  Judge  John  C.  Rose,  of  the  U.  S. 
District  Court;  George  E.  Barnett,  Ph.  D.,  Professor  of  Statistics 
at  The  Johns  Hopkins  University ;  and  Gordon  Wilson,  M.  D.,  of 
the  School  of  Medicine  of  the  University  of  Maryland.  Since  the 
absorption  of  the  last  named  in  his  military  duties  as  a  Major  in 
the  Medical  Reserve  Corps,  his  place  has  been  taken  by  Roscoe  C. 
Edlund,  Director  of  the  Alliance  of  Charitable  and  Social  Agencies. 

Two  further  matters  should  be  stated.  The  work  of  the  Bureau 
of  State  and  Municipal  Research  was  without  compensation  other 
than  reimbursement  for  and  the  cost  of  statistical  machinery, 
cards,  etc.,  and  the  wages  of  the  clerical  staff. 

Acknowledgment  is  due  also  to  those  charitable  and  medical 
organizations  both  in  and  out  of  the  Alliance  which  cooperated 
willingly  in  placing  their  records  at  the  disposal  of  the  Bureau  of 
State  and  Municipal  Research.  Without  this  cooperation  the 
study  could  not  have  been  made. 

EXTENT,  LIMITATIONS  AND  POSSIBILITIES  OF  THE 

STUDY 

The  detailed  report  shows  fully  the  methods  and  classifications 
employed.  The  total  number  of  case  records  studied  was  8663, 
divided  between  the  calendar  years  1916  and  1917.  These  records 
were  supplied  by  nine  organizations.  About  four-fifths  came  from 
four  Alliance  organizations :  The  Federated  Charities,  Instructive 
Visiting  Nurse  Association,  Prisoners'  Aid  Association  and  Henry 
Watson  Children's  Aid  Society,  the  remainder  coming  from  the 
Federated  Jewish  Charities,  Supervisors  of  City  Charities,  Social 
Service  Department  of  Johns  Hopkins  Hospital,  and  the  Society 
for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Children,  with  a  small  number 
(52)  from  the  Young  Ladies'  Benevolent  Society. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  point  out  that  no  deductions  of  final 
value  or  general  application,  can  be  drawn  from  the  records  within 
a  given  two-year  period  of  nine  charitable  and  medical  agencies 
of  a  single  city.     This  study,  a  pioneer  of  its  kind,  has  obvious 


limitations  of  subject  matter,  despite  the  fact  that  so  far  as  is 
known,  it  is  the  most  elaborate  and  comprehensive  and  covers  the 
largest  number  of  cases  dealt  with  in  any  such  study  in  the  United 
States.  The  committee  refrains  from  stating  conclusions  because 
it  does  not  believe  that  conclusions  can  be  drawn.  The  data  ob- 
tained may  seem  to  have  a  bearing,  positive  or  negative,  upon 
some  or  many  questions,  but  data  from  other  organizations  in 
Baltimore,  or  from  other  cities,  might  point  in  the  opposite  direc- 
tion. If  further  studies  are  made,  here  and  elsewhere,  it  may  be 
found  that  facts  which  at  first  seem  important  are  without  real 
significance,  or  that,  because  of  conditions  peculiar  to  Baltimore, 
what  is  of  value  locally  throws  little  if  any  light  upon  the  general 
problem  throughout  the  country. 

At  the  moment,  the  com,mittee  is  as  much  conceryied  about  the 
methods  of  study  as  it  is  about  the  facts  which  may  seem  to  be 
disclosed.  It  is  the  hope  of  the  committee  that  the  methods  em- 
ployed may  stand  the  test  of  further  use  and  may  suggest  plans 
whereby  the  immense  amount  of  data  gathered  day  by  day  by 
social  and  medical  agencies  throughout  the  country  may  be  cur- 
rently recorded  in  such  fashion  as  to  be  capable  of  rapid  mechan- 
ical segregation  and  classification.  If  this  could  be  achieved,  and 
especially  if  students  in  many  different  cities  could  agree  upon  a 
reasonable  uniformity  of  classifications  and  definition,  the  accu- 
mulation of  comparable  data  for  scientific  study  could  go  forward 
apace,  and  the  social  worker  would  have  the  inspiration  of  feeling 
that  his  contact  with  the  individual  case  of  need  offered  oppor- 
tunity not  alone  for  wise,  humane  and  effective  treatment,  but  also 
for  the  gathering  and  recording  of  information,  ivhich  when  prop- 
erly assembled  and  interpreted,  would  throw  light  upori  the  funda- 
mental general  problems. 

We  are  conscious  that  much  in  this  report  is  uninteresting~~fo 
the  last  degree.  Yet  we  feel  that  a  detailed  account  of  the  way 
in  which  the  figures  were  gathered  and  put  together,  will  make 
it  possible  for  those  who  may  engage  in  similar  inquiries  to  do 
their  work  so  that  comparison  between  their  results  and  those 
here  obtained,  can  be  safely  made.  Many  of  the  figures  given  are, 
to  all  appearances,  irrelevant  to  anything  of  importance.  It  may 
be  safely  assumed  that  not  a  few  of  them  are  so  in  fact.  They  are 
printed  because  nobody  now  knows  or  can  know  which  of  them  are 


10 

really  pertinent.  A  large  volume  of  facts  must  first  be  gathered, 
at  many  different  times  and  places,  and  then  their  story  will  be 
read,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  by  some  mind  in  which  scientific  accuracy 
and  capacity  for  thorough  and  painstaking  investigation  are 
united  with  an  illuminating  imagination. 

Further  studies  can  be  made,  and  indeed  are  contemplated,  of 
the  present  material.  What  has  been  done  thus  far,  the  results 
of  which  are  here  reported,  is  to  determine  the  number  of  cards 
falling  within  classifications  which  careful  consideration  lead  the 
committee  to  adopt  and  within  which  all  available  material  in  the 
8663  cases  studied  was  recorded. 

But  the  adoption  of  a  classification,  and  the  sorting  of  all  carSs 
under  each  heading  is,  after  all,  only  preliminary  to  real  study. 
Further  investigation  of  the  present  material  will  doubtless  sug- 
gest possible  relationships  between  different  classifications,  the 
confirmation  of  these  relationships  depending,  however,  on  future 
studies.  Undoubtedly,  further  combinations  of  our  present  ma- 
terial should  be  made. 

For  example,  it  will  doubtless  be  worth  while  to  segregate  all 
cards  showing  tuberculosis,  so  that  as  one  group  they  can  then  be 
sub-divided  according  to  sex,  age,  race,  housing  conditions,  occu- 
pation, wages,  neighborhood  in  which  living  (census  enumera- 
tion district) — in  brief,  into  each  and  all  of  the  classifications 
recorded.  As  it  is  entirely  practicable  to  divide  and  sub-divide 
down  to  the  very  last  detailed  analysis,  any  group  of  cards  in 
which  the  student  may  be  particularly  interested,  an  immense 
amount  of  suggestive  data  may  be  thus  obtained. 

In  this  connection,  attention  should  be  directed  to  a  previous 
study  *  made  by  the  Bureau  of  Municipal  Research  to  show,  (1) 
the  distribution  of  population  of  Baltimore  City  (at  the  1910 
Federal  Census)  among  the  406  "census  enumeration  districts" 
into  which  the  city  was  divided,  (2)  the  distribution  among  these 
same  districts  of  cases  under  care  in  1915  by  each  of  five  organi- 
zations t  and  the  total  of  all  five,  and  (3)  the  number  of  these 

*  Report  No.  15,  issued  January  1,  1917,  by  the  Bureau  of  State  and  Munici- 
pal Research,  Baltimore:  Part  I,  Districting  of  Baltimore  for  the  Work  of 
Charitable  Organizations;  Part  II,  The  Enumeration  Districts. 

t  Federated  Charities,  Instructive  Visiting  Nurse  Association,  Babies'  Milk 
Fund  Association,  Tuberculosis  Division  of  City  Health  Department  and  Fed- 
erated Jewish  Charities. 


11 

cases  per  acre  and  per  each  1,000  of  the  population.  That  inevita- 
bly suggested  the  desirability  of  intensive  study  by  districts  of  the 
problems  of  poverty  in  Baltimore.  This  study  will  be  practicable 
for  the  cases  studied  in  the  present  investigation,  inasmuch  as 
each  case  is  coded  by  district. 

It  cannot  be  too  clearly  recognized  that  the  materials  recorded 
relate  to  strictly  limited  groups  in  the  community — groups  which 
came  under  the  care  of  certain  leading  charitable  and  social 
agencies.  In  this  respect  our  study  follows  the  New  York  study 
by  Dr.  Devine  above  referred  to,  differing  from  the  English 
studies  of  London,  York,  Reading  and  the  other  cities.  The  Eng- 
lish students,  at  the  cost  of  large  sums  of  money,  employing 
trained  staffs,  and  visiting  house  after  house  and  industrial  plant 
after  industrial  plant,  gathered  together  an  immense  amount  of 
data  about  all  kinds  of  working  class  families,  regardless  of 
whether  they  were  dependent  or  independent,  or  of  whether  they 
fell  into  any  such  special  classifications  as  do  practically  all  those 
who  come  to  the  attention  of  charitable  and  social  agencies.  Their 
object  was  to  determine  how  all  the  working  class  population 
labored  and  lived,  not  simply  that  portion  of  it  which  fell  below 
the  poverty  line  and  came  under  the  care  of  organizations. 

Along  with  such  possibilities  and  such  limitations — the  one 
luring  one  forward  to  study,  the  other  suggesting  its  pitfalls  and 
dangers — it  is  well  also  to  note  the  distribution  of  our  8663  cases 
among  the  different  types  of  organizations  from  which  the  records 
came.  Sixty  per  cent,  or  5202  cases  are  from  organizations  deal- 
ing primarily  with  problems  of  dependency,  distributed  as  follows : 

Federated  Charities  4055 

Federated  Jewish  Charities  „ 754 

Supervisors  of  City  Charities 341 

Young  Ladies'  Benevolent  Society 52 

Twenty-four  per  cent,  or  2080,  came  from  two  medical  agencies : 

Instructive  Visiting  Nurse  Association 1825 

Social  Service  Department — Johns  Hopkins  Hospital  255 
More  than  10  per  cent,  or  920,  are  Prisoners'  Aid  Association 
cases  (mostly  probationers) ,  and  the  remaining  6  per  cent,  or  561, 
are  from  the  following  Children's  Agencies: 

Henry  Watson  Children's  Aid  Society 351 

Society  for  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Children 210 


12 

CLASSIFICATION  OF  IMMEDIATE  APPARENT  CAUSES 
FOR  CHARITABLE  CARE 

What  were  the  causes  which  brought  the  8663  families  under 
the  care  of  these  charitable  and  social  organizations  ? 

It  is  not  our  belief  that  the  real  underlying  causes  can  be  defi- 
nitely ascertained  or  coded.  The  stuffs  of  which  human  life  and 
misery  are  made  are  too  subtle,  too  varied,  too  complex  for  this 
sort  of  scientific  dissection.  In  comparatively  few  cases  can  even 
the  apparent  reasons  for  application  or  reference  be  reduced  to 
a  single  cause,  while  the  true  reasons  may  run  so  far  into  the 
character  and  life  histories  of  the  individual  concerned,  as  well 
as  into  the  organization  of  society  itself,  as  to  defy  analysis. 
Drunkenness  or  excessive  drinking  tends  to  disqualify  from  em- 
ployment, but  in  some  instances  these  habits  have  been  induced 
by  periods  of  enforced  idleness;  or  they  may  be  either  the  cause 
or  the  consequence  of  ill  health,  abnormal  mental  conditions,  in- 
sufficient food,  domestic  trouble,  or  several  of  these  together.  It 
would  be  easy  for  a  charity  visitor  to  mistake  drunkenness  for  a 
cause  of  poverty  in  a  given  case  where,  if  every  aspect  of  it  could 
be  known,  it  might  properly  be  regarded  as  an  effect  resulting 
from  many  other  causes.  Again,  if  tuberculosis  be  the  reason  for 
a  given  application  for  relief,  what  caused  the  disease?  If  bad 
housing  and  lack  of  sunlight  and  air  should  seem  to  be  the  cause, 
what  led  the  family  to  live  under  these  conditions  ?  Was  it  insuf- 
ficient income,  or  ignorance,  or  some  other  reason,  and  if  so  who 
or  what  was  finally  responsible  ?  It  will  not  be  necessary  to  point 
out,  therefore,  that  any  classification  whatever  of  the  causes  of 
poverty  must  be  accepted  with  extreme  caution,  and  with  certain 
knowledge  that  back  of  apparent  causes  lie  many  others,  fre- 
quently indistiguishable  and  impossible  to  analyze. 

It  seems  to  the  committee,  fully  worth  while  to  tabulate  the 
immediate  apparent  causes  which  placed  the  8663  families  or 
individuals  in  their  position  of  economic  dependence  or  of  need 
for  other  assistance  or  supervision.  As  a  rule,  one  who  asks  for 
help  gives  some  reason  why  he  needs  it,  or  if  he  be  referred  for 
assistance  or  supervision,  reasons  may  be  assigned  by  neighbors, 
friends,  relatives,  courts,  social  workers  or  other  referring  agency. 
In  most,  if  not  all  instances,  the  organization  appealed  to  makes 
its  own  investigation  into  the  causes  of  the  trouble.    Throughout 


13 

this  study,  the  diagnosis  made  by  the  charity  worker  in  charge 
of  the  case,  where  such  diagnosis  has  been  recorded,  has  been 
accepted  as  the  basis  of  tabulation.  If  not,  the  recorded  state- 
ment of  the  applicant  is  used.  Sometimes  what  is  recorded  is 
simply  the  immediate  necessity  which  led  to  the  Society's  inter- 
position, as  for  example  the  necessity  for  securing  alimony  for 
some  unhappily  wedded  wife.  What  led  to  the  marital  breach 
may  not  appear  and  may  never  have  become  known. 

Among  those  which  the  records  classified  as  due  to  family 
troubles,  are  included  an  aggregate  of  1201  cases  under  one  or 
the  other  heads  of  alimony,  desertion  or  non-support,  marital 
infidelity,  incompatibility,  neglected,  immoral  or  incorrigible  chil- 
dren, failure  of  children  to  support  parents  or  of  parents  to  sup- 
port children,  or  neglect  of  a  father  of  an  illegitimate  child  to 
support  it.  Under  the  classification  of  abnormal  or  criminal 
practices,  including  drunkenness  or  heavy  drinking,  drug  using, 
shiftlessness,  mendicancy,  immorality,  thievery,  manslaughter 
and  assault,  there  are  694  cases.  Under  that  of  the  withdrawal 
of  an  essential  memebr  of  the  family  group,  there  are  280  cases 
of  imprisonment.  Under  the  miscellaneous  cases,  there  are  in- 
stances of  61  women  with  illegitimate  children  .  There  is  here  a 
total  of  2236  cases  or  25.81  per  cent  in  which  the  trouble  is  said 
to  have  had  its  origin  in  something  out  of  the  way  in  somebody's 
mental  or  moral  makeup. 

Physical  illness  (including  accidents  and  mental  trouble)  is 
given  as  the  cause  in  3902  instances,  to  which  may  be  added  from 
the  classification  of  temporary  special  needs,  152  instances  in 
which  there  was  need  for  the  services  of  an  occulist  or  an  optician, 
and  18  in  which  the  skill  of  a  dentist  was  required.  Physical 
causes,  therefore,  U072  or  U7  per  cent  of  the  whole  number.  Of 
this  total,  1470  are  classified  as  temporary  illness,  138  as  illness 
of  pregnancy  or  child  birth,  and  as  noted  above,  170  as  needing 
attention  to  eyes  or  teeth,  a  total  of  1778  temporary  cases  or  20.52 
per  cent  of  the  whole  number  of  cases  studied.  Tuberculosis  is 
reported  as  accounting  for  708  cases  and  other  long  continued 
physical  disability  and  mental  trouble  for  1478,  the  two  together 
amounting  to  2186,  more  than  one-half  of  all  those  said  to  be  in- 
capacitated by  disease  and  25.23  per  cent  of  the  whole  number  of 
cases. 


14 

//  the  U072  cases  recorded  as  arising  from  physical  causes  he 
added  to  the  2236  ascribed  to  mental  or  moral  iveakness,  the  total 
reaches  6308,  or  nearly  three-fourths  of  all  those  studied.  But  a 
note  of  caution  should  be  given.  Between  one-fourth  and  one-fifth 
of  all  the  cases  dealt  with  came  from  the  records  of  the  Instructive 
Visiting  Nurse  Association.  It  is,  therefore,  possible  that  the 
contribution  made  by  illness  has  been  somewhat  exaggerated,  as 
that  by  moral  shortcomings  may  be  in  consequence  of  including 
649  cases  from  the  records  of  the  Prisoners'  Aid  Association. 

It  is  perhaps  noteworthy  that  industrial  accidents  were  reported 
as  the  cause  of  but  54  cases,  only  a  little  more  than  six-tenths 
of  one  per  cent  of  the  total.  Before  the  days  of  legislative  pro- 
vision for  workmen's  compensation,  it  seems  probable  that  the 
number  of  such  cases  under  the  care  of  one  or  more  of  these 
organizations  would  have  been  markedly  greater.  The  number 
of  non-industrial  accidents  (52)  reported  is  almost  exactly  the 
same  as  the  number  of  industrial  accidents.  The  total  number  of 
cases  recorded  as  due  to  accidents  (106)  is  1.22  per  cent  of  the 
whole  number. 

Only  5.16  per  cent  or  UU7  cases  were  attributed  to  "labor  condi- 
tions." All  but  9  of  these  were  ascribed  either  to  the  wage  earner 
being  out  of  work  or  on  part  time.  That  tells  little  unless  further 
analysis'  of  these  records  shall  reveal  the  reason  why  the  wage 
earner  was  not  working,  or  was  working  only  part  of  the  time. 
From  the  present  figures  it  seems  apparent  that  the  cause  was 
other  than  strikes  or  lock-outs,  for  a  separate  return  of  such 
cases  is  made,  and  they  number  only  four. 

A  chronically  insufficient  income  was  recorded  as  the  cause  of 
00  cases,  or  a  trifle  over  one  per  cent  of  the  whole  number. 
Further  analysis  may  help  determine  the  reasons  for  the  insuffi- 
cient income;  the  present  figures  do  not  tell  whether  it  was  the 
result  of  general  economic  conditions,  of  some  weakness  or  mis- 
fortune of  the  individual  or  family  concerned,  or  of  some  other 
reason. 

There  were  613  cases  recorded  as  due  to  temporary  special 
needs,  including  the  need  of  clothing,  food,  fuel,  diet  for  children, 
care  of  eyes  or  teeth,  transportation,  loans,  etc.  Where  indi- 
viduals or  families  come  under  care  for  reasons  of  this  kind  there 
are  obviously  other  underlying  causes  even  if  they  are  not  re- 


15 

corded.  For  example,  a  family  appealing  for  temporary  assist- 
ance may  be  in  need  on  account  of  the  removal  of  the  wage  earner 
to  a  sanitarium  for  tubercular  patients.  Such  an  instance  would 
be  classified  under  tuberculosis  as  a  cause  rather  than  under 
temporary  need  of  food,  fuel  or  clothing.  In  general,  then,  a  large 
share  if  not  all  of  these  613  cases  would  have  been  classified 
elsewhere  if  more  complete  information  had  appeared  on  the 
record. 

STUDY  OF  SUB-NORMALITY 

The  study  reveals  the  further  fact  that  in  the  8663  families 
dealt  with,  there  were  8568  sub-normal  or  abnormal  individuals. 
Upon  an  average,  each  of  these  families  contained  three  members 
so  that  aproximately  one-third  of  all  the  persons  in  them  were 
in  some  respect  or  other  sub-normal  or  abnormal.  The  handicaps 
of  1826  were  mental.  1808  were  either  drunkards  or  heavy  drinTc^ 
ers.  4642  were  suffering  from  moral  defects  or  delinquencies,  and 
in  many  instances,  from  physical  handicaps  as  well.  4521  had  one 
or  more  physical  shortcomings,  whether  they  had  a  moral  one  or 
not.  At  the  time  of  the  investigation,  701  were  inmates  of  insti- 
tutions, either  for  punishment,  for  reformation  or  for  relief. 

RACE  AND  NATIONALITY 

The  statistics  for  race  and  nativity  are  also  given.  In  any 
consideration  of  these  figures,  it  must  be  remembered  that  the 
cases  dealt  with  number  140  to  every  10,000  of  the  population, 
according  to  the  Federal  Census  of  1910.  Among  the  native 
whites,  the  numbers  were  97  to  10,000 ;  among  the  negroes,  229 ; 
and  among  the  foreign  born  whites,  262.  Great  caution  must  be 
exercised  in  making  comparisons  between  the  different  foreign 
nationalities.  So  far  as  concerns  the  greater  number  of  European 
countries,  they  cannot  really  be  made  at  all,  as  the  number  of 
residents  of  Baltimore,  born  in  these  countries,  and  the  number 
of  cases  in  which  natives  of  each  of  them  were  assisted,  are  too 
small  to  make  it  safe  to  base  any  deductions  upon  them.  It  must 
be  borne  in  mind  that  there  are  large  and  active  charitable  socie- 
ties'in  in  Baltimore  whose  records  have  not  been  included  in  this 
examination.  In  some  instances,  such  societies  do  or  may,  for  one 
reason  or  another,  concern  themselves  more  largely  with  certain 


16 

elements  of  the  population  than  with  others.  Deductions  from 
relative  figures  therefore  must  be  subject  to  much  qualification. 
Bearing  in  mind  these  limitations,  it  may  be  said  that  the  Irish 
and  German  elements  of  the  population,  including  with  the  Ger- 
mans the  Poles  born  in  Germany,  are  not  represented  among  the 
applicants  for  relief  in  materially  greater  proportion  than  are 
the  natives  whites.  They  exceed  the  latter  but  not  by  very  much. 
The  various  races  from  Austria  Hungary  contribute  in  the  aggre- 
gate, in  proportion  something  more  than  twice  as  many  as  do  the 
native  whites,  and  the  Italians  and  Russians  are  each  relatively 
four  and  a  half  times  as  numerous. 

Most  of  these  revelations  are  not  surprising  in  view  of  the 
generally  known  facts  as  to  the  economic  condition  of  the  various 
elements  of  our  population.  It  is,  however,  a  little  curious  that 
the  Russian  and  Italians  should,  in  proportion  to  their  numbers, 
furnish  nearly  twice  as  many  cases  as  do  the  negroes.  This  is 
particularly  hard  to  understand  when  taken  in  connection  with 
the  fact  that  the  proportion  of  cases  among  the  recently  arrived 
emigrants  appears  to  be  small.  The  stranger  in  a  strange  land 
may  be  friendless,  and  therefore  when  overtaken  by  any  of  the 
accidents  of  life,  may  be  more  readily  forced  to  seek  public  char- 
ity than  would  be  the  case  if  he  had  been  a  member  of  the  com- 
munity and  had  made  connections  in  it.  Yet  it  does  not  appear 
that  there  has  been  an  undue  proportion  of  cases  among  the 
newcomers  of  the  city.  This  is  true  of  strangers  of  either  native 
or  foreign  birth.  Since  August,  1914,  there  has  been  very  little 
immigration  from  Europe,  but  for  all  that,  it  is  singular  that 
out  of  approximately  2000  foreign  families  dealt  with,  the  heads 
of  only  454  or  less  than  one-fourth  have  come  to  this  country 
within  the  last  ten  years.  The  others  have  been  here  a  decade  or 
more.  The  heads  of  more  than  nineteen-twentieths  of  all  the 
families  relieved  have  lived  in  the  United  States  for  more  than  ten 
years,  and  more  than  six-sevenths  have  been  residents  of  Balti- 
more for  that  length  of  time. 

RELIGIOUS  AFFILIATION 

The  figures  as  to  religious  affiliation  may  be  dismissed  as  of 
little  value,  and  that  for  two  reasons.  (1)  In  some  .instances, 
the  reports  of  large  charitable  organizations  operating  largely  or 


17 

exclusively  among  peoples  of  particular  faiths  are  included  in  the 
accompanying  tables,  and  other  large  societies  operating  in  like 
manner  among  peoples  of  other  religious  beliefs  are  not  included, 
and  (2)  because  we  do  not  know  the  relative  numbers  of  any  one 
of  the  religious  denominations  in  the  different  economic  grades  of 
society.  For  example,  the  colored  people  in  Baltimore  are  prob- 
ably very  largely  Protestants,  and  have  a  very  low  average  in- 
come. On  the  other  hand,  certain  elements  of  the  foreign  popula- 
tion with  small  incomes  are  almost  exclusively  members  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  and  so  on. 

SIZE  OF  FAMILY 

It  is  not  infrequently  supposed  that  large  families  are  one 
cause  of  extreme  poverty.  The  facts  disclosed  by  our  investiga- 
tion do  not  show  that  in  Baltimore  such  was  the  case  among  the 
families  dealt  with  in  this  report.  We  have  information  as  to 
the  number  of  children  in  8141  of  the  families  investigated.  In 
nearly  one-half  of  these  cases  there  were  none  under  sixteen  years 
of  age.  In  5645  families,  or  more  than  two-thirds  of  the  total 
number,  there  were  either  no  children  under  sixteen  years  of  age, 
or  there  were  not  more  than  two  such  children.  In  8531  cases, 
we  know  the  number  of  individuals  in  each  household,  and  in  more 
than  half,  that  number  did  not  exceed  three.  It  is  perhaps  sig- 
nificant that  in  such  families  the  children  leave  the  household 
early,  for  in  6709  out  of  8146,  there  were  no  children  over  sixteen. 
There  was  not  one  family  in  twenty  in  which  there  were  more  than 
two.  The  fewness  of  the  children  in  the  family  at  the  time  the 
report  was  given  was  not  the  result  of  a  high  rate  of  infant  mor- 
tality. In  point  of  fact,  the  number  of  cases  in  which  previous 
deaths  of  children  are  recorded  is  so  small  as  to  be  below  the 
average  of  the  entire  population.  The  returns  purport  to  give 
information  on  this  subject  with  reference  to  8419  families,  and 
of  these,  it  is  said  that  7539  have  never  lost  a  child,  and  in  565 
more  there  was  only  one  dead  child.  That  is  to  say,  in  less  than 
4  per  cent  were  there  as  many  as  two  dead  children.  It  is  hard 
to  believe  in  the  accuracy  of  these  figures  as  to  the  small  mor- 
tality among  the  children  of  the  poor.  However  that  be,  it  would 
seem  that  extreme  poverty  in  Baltimore,  going  to  the  extent  of 
compelling  application  for  charitable  assistance,  is  much  more 


18 

common  among  individuals  without  family  attachments,  or  having 
very  small  families.  Large  families  seem  somehow  or  other  to  be 
able  to  take  care  of  themselves. 

AGE  AND  INCOME 

In  some  economic,  social  and  industrial  conditions,  there  are 
large  classes  of  the  population  in  which  the  aged  have  always 
before  them  the  fear  of  becoming  paupers.  English  literature,  as 
well  as  English  economic  history,  shows  how  general  this  condi- 
tion was,  not  only  in  factory  towns  but  among  the  agricultural 
laborers  as  well.  The  figures  before  us  do  not  show  that  such 
conditions  exist  to  any  appreciable  extent  in  Baltimore.  Indeed 
56.4  per  cent  of  all  the  men  concerned  and  61.8  per  cent  of  all  the 
women  were  comparatively  young,  that  is  to  say,  they  were  be- 
tween the  ages  of  18  and  40,  and  there  are  only  199  cases  said  to  be 
due  to  the  problem  of  old  age.  That  is  little  more  than  one  in 
fifty  of  the  total  number  dealt  with.  If  these .  statistics  repre- 
sent the  situation  with  even  approximate  accuracy,  the  need  for  an 
old  age  pension  is  by  no  means  as  great  in  Baltimore  as  it  has  been 
supposed  to  be  in  many  other  places.  In  this  connection  it  should 
be  said  that  the  statistics  of  income  show  that  the  average  weekly 
wage  for  men  begins  to  fall  at  about  fifty,  and  falls  rather  rapidly 
after  sixty. 

Little  can  be  drawn  from  the  figures  as  to  income.  In  the 
first  place,  the  information  is  almost  certainly  very  imperfect  or 
inaccurate  even  for  the  limited  period  taken,  namely,  six  months 
before  the  application  for  assistance.  In  a  great  many  cases 
knowledge  as  to  a  much  longer  time  is  necessary  in  order  to  form 
any  accurate  judgment  as  to  the  part  an  unduly  low  income  has 
had  in  bringing  about  the  catastrophe. 

As  already  stated,  there  were  only  90  cases  in  which  a  chroni- 
cally insufficient  income  is  recorded  as  the  cause  for  the  appli- 
cation. The  weekly  wage  of  men  from  20  to  60  is  from  ten  to 
eleven  dollars  per  week,  and  of  the  women  of  the  same  age  from 
four  to  five  dollars  per  week,  a  low  wage  at  the  prices  prevailing 
in  1916  and  1917,  but  a  more  minute  study  of  the  individual 
cases  is  necessary  before  the  teaching  of  these  figures,  if  they 
have  any,  can  be  properly  gauged.  A  small  wage  is  significant  if 
the  individual  who  received  it  came  up  even  to  a  low  degree  of 


19 

competency.    It  means  little  in  itself  if  the  smallness  of  the  wage 
was  the  result  of  incompetency  passing  the  average. 

HOUSING  CONDITIONS 

Incompetency  or  disability  which  results  in  low  earning  power 
or  in  none  at  all,  may  be  due  to  the  surroundings  under  which  the 
poor  are  compelled  to  live,  and  therefore  a  study  was  made  of  some 
of  the  living  conditions  of  the  cases  investigated.  Ordinarily  we 
expect  to  find  the  poorest  of  the  urban  poor  very  much  crowded 
together  in  badly  lighted  and  ill  ventilated  rooms.  In  many  if  not 
most  cities,  in  this  and  other  countries,  that  expectation  is  un- 
fortunately realized.  In  Baltimore  it  seemingly  is  not.  This 
city  was  formerly  almost  destitute  of  tenement  houses  and  still 
has  but  few  of  them  in  proportion  to  its  population.  It  has  a  great 
number  of  small  four  and  six  room  houses  which  until  within  the 
last  few  months,  could  be  procured  for  a  low  rent.  For  that 
reason,  indications  of  overcrowding  are  not  revealed  in  a  study 
of  the  living  conditions  of  even  the  poorest  of  Baltimore's  poor. 
It  is  not  meant  to  say  or  imply  that  they  are  well  housed.  The 
reverse  is  doubtless  true,  but  some  of  the  things  which  in  other 
places  evidence  bad  living  conditions,  are  not  found  here. 

In  7667  out  of  8663  cases  investigated,  we  have  reports  on 
the  dwellings  occupied.  Eliminating  1763  cases  in  which  the  in- 
dividual studied  lived  with  relatives  and  friends,  there  remains 
5904  as  to  which  we  have  a  report  upon  the  kind  of  dwelling  in 
which  the  family  lived.  In  more  than  half  of  these,  or  3018, 
the  family  was  the  sole  occupant  of  an  entire  dwelling.  In  2042 
more  it  shared  a  house  with  not  exceeding  two  other  families,  so 
that  5060  out  of  5904  lived  under  conditions  which  would  usually 
be  assumed  as  indicating  that  there  was  little  or  no  overcrowding. 

This  conclusion  will  be  confirmed  by  the  report  of  the  number 
of  rooms  accessible  to  the  use  of  the  family.  Excluding  the  cases 
in  which  we  have  no  information,  and  those  in  the  person  dealt 
with  was  a  boarder  with  others,  there  are  left  5823  cases,  and 
of  these  more  than  half,  or  3005,  occupied  from  four  to  six  rooms 
each. 

Along  the  same  line  are  the  revelations  as  to  the  degree  of  light 
and  air  in  the  dwellings  of  the  investigated  families.     We  have 


20 

as  to  6124,  information  as  to  the  number  of  rooms  with  and  with- 
out outside  windows.  We  find  that  in  two-thirds  or  four  thousand 
of  these  cases,  there  are  at  least  four  rooms  with  outside  win- 
dows, and  only  eleven  which  have  no  room  with  such  a  window, 
and  out  of  5582,  4967  have  not  a  single  room  which  is  lighted 
by  a  skylight  or  by  a  window  opening  on  a  court  or  cut  less  than 
three  feet  wide,  and  in  practically  all  the  other  houses,  there  is 
only  one  such  room.  Out  of  5595  as  to  which  we  have  reports, 
nearly  %  oi*  4789  have  not  a  single  room  without  an  outside 
window,  and  733  of  the  balance  have  only  one  such  room. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  are  revealed  certain  facts  which  in 
other  communities  would  indicate  very  wretched  housing  condi- 
tions, but  which  do  not  necessarily  have  such  significance  in  Bal- 
timore. For  example,  the  report  contains  information  as  to  the 
toilet  facilities  in  6517  cases,  and  of  these,  nearly  four-fifths  or 
5057  had  none  in  the  house  as  contrasted  with  the  yard,  and  out 
of  6489  cases,  as  to  which  we  have  information  with  reference  to 
the  existence  or  non-existence  of  baths  within  the  house  or  apart- 
ment, we  find  almost  precisely  three-fourths  or  4832  have  none. 
It  is  a  bad  showing  even  for  Baltimore,  but  it  means  in  Baltimore 
very  much  less  than  it  would  in  almost  any  other  place,  as  it  is  only 
within  the  last  few  years  that  Baltimore  has  had  any  sewerage 
system  at  all.  In  Baltimore  up  until  not  so  many  years  ago,  it 
is  probable  that  toilet  facilities  in  the  house  were  the  exception 
rather  than  the  rule,  even  in  many  fairly  large  houses,  in  other 
respects  reasonably  comfortable,  and  felt  so  to  be.  Now  that  the 
city  has  a  complete  sewerage  system,  these  conditions  are  rapidly 
changing.  Somewhat  the  same  thing  may  be  said  as  to  bathing 
facilities,  except  that  an  ordinance  requiring  baths  to  be  installed 
in  newly  erected  houses  was  passed  twenty  years  or  more  ago. 
The  fact  is,  of  course,  that  the  poorest  of  the  poor  live  in  the 
houses  which  have  the  fewest  modern  conveniences,  and  therefore 
the  proportion  of  those  who  occupy  houses  without  indoor  toilet 
facilities  and  without  baths  is  much  longer  than  the  rest  of  the 
community,  but  it  does  not  mean  that  even  then  they  are  living 
under  conditions  which  were  not  found  perfectly  tolerable  by  the 
great  majority  of  Baltimoreans  of  one  or  two  generations  ago. 


21 

GENERAL  CONCLUSION 

To  sum  up  the  whole  matter,  the  figures  compiled  seem  to  in- 
dicate that  in  Baltimore,  among  the  cases  dealt  with,  the  immedi- 
ate cause  of  necessity  for  assistance  was  more  or  less  special  to 
the  individual  or  family  concerned,  such  as  low  physical,  moral,  or 
mental  competency,  either  congenital  or  as  the  result  of  some 
accident  or  misfortune.  They  do  not  show  what  part,  if  any,  is 
played  by  economic  conditions  effecting  large  portions  of  the 
community.  Apparently  whatever  those  conditions  were,  and 
bad  as  they  may  have  been,  they  were  not  such  as  would  economi- 
cally submerge  any  considerable  number  of  persons  who  were 
not  of  low  physical,  moral,  or  mental  capacity.  It  is  quite  possible 
that  the  low  standard  of  wages  in  particular  industries  may  itself 
have  been  the  cause  of  living  conditions  which  did  bring  about 
physical,  if  not  other  infirmities.  All  that  can  be  said  is  that  the 
data  here  disclosed  do  not  justify  the  assertion  that  such  was 
the  case. 


23 


BUREAU  OF  STATE  AND  MUNICIPAL  RESEARCH 


STUDY  OF  SOCIAL  STATISTICS  IN  THE  CITY  OF  BALTI- 
MORE FOR  THE  YEARS  1916-1917 


Study  Undertaken  at  the  Request  of  The  Alliance  of  Charitable 

and  Social  Agencies  and  Financed  by  an  Appropriation 

of  the  City  of  Baltimore 


At  the  outset  it  is  evident  that  statistics  so  complicated  as  those 
collected  by  the  various  social  organizations  must  be  handled  by- 
some  mechanical  means,  and  this  involves  a  translation  into  some 
numerical  classification  or  code.  In  its  preparation  care  must  be 
taken  to  make  the  main  classes  cover  the  important  elements  of 
the  case,  and  the  sub-classifications  within  the  main  classes  must 
be  mutually  exclusive  and  broad  enough  to  meet  all  cases  which 
will  arise  in  actual  practice. 

The  Bureau  of  State  and  Municipal  Research  therefore  made  a 
careful  study  of  the  field  before  beginning  its  work.  It  drew 
upon  the  experience  of  other  organizations,  particularly  that  of 
the  Charity  Organization  of  New  York,  The  Municipal  Court  of 
Philadelphia,  Statistical  Division  .  It  found,  however,  that  com- 
paratively little  had  been  done  by  social  workers  in  the  way  of 
mechanical  tabulation  of  general  social  statistics,  and  therefore 
was  unable  to  secure  as  much  expert  advice  as  it  desired. 

It  is  very  important  that  eventually,  if  social  statistics  are  to  be 
handled  in  this  way,  there  shall  be  something  in  the  way  of  a 
uniform  code  in  order  that  the  statistics  may  be  approximately 
comparable  between  cities.  With  the  idea  of  working  in  this 
direction  the  Bureau  followed,  so  far  as  it  was  practicable  for 
it  to  do  so,  the  classifications  suggested  by  the  organizations  re- 
ferred to  above. 

After  careful  consideration  of  the  problem  the  Bureau  finally 
decided  to  make  the  family  the  basis  of  the  investigation  and 
to  prepare  for  each  family  a  general  card  which  will  be  discussed 
hereafter.  There  were,  however,  certain  individual  facts  which 
could  not  be  handled  on  the  family  basis.  These  related  chiefly 
to  the  wage  earner  and  to  the  abnormal  or  sub-normal  individual. 


24 

The  Bureau  therefore  decided  to  adopt  for  each  wage  earner  a 
separate  card,  carrying  only  his  financial  data.  Also  for  the 
abnormal  or  sub-normal  individual  in  the  family  the  Bureau 
adopted  a  separate  card,  carrying  only  the  data  relating  to  his 
abnormality  or  sub-normality. 

The  present  study  covers  the  years  1916  and  1917,  dealing 
only  with  those  cases  which  were  actually  handled  by  the  Societies 
studied  during  those  years.  Where  a  case  had  been  continuously 
before  the  Society  for  a  term  of  years  since  its  original  applica- 
tion, this  original  application  was  treated  as  the  beginning  of  the 
case.  Where,  however,  a  case  had  been  quiescent  for  a  period  of 
two  months  or  more  and  had  again  returned  to  the  Society  the 
date  of  the  return  is  taken  as  the  date  of  application. 

For  the  year  1916,  the  study  covered  a  total  of  5488  families, 
coming  from  the  following  Societies : 

Federated  Charities  2767 

Jewish  Federated  Charities 592 

Henry  Watson  Children's  Aid  Society. 351 

Prisoners'  Aid  Society 920 

Social  Service — Johns  Hopkins  Hospital 255 

Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Children 210 

Supervisors  of  City  Charities 341 

Young  Ladies'  Benevolent  Society 52 


5488 

The  result  of  this  study  was  to  show  that  many  of  the  organi- 
zations, either  because  of  their  method  of  keeping  records  or 
because  of  the  peculiar  character  of  their  work,  had  not  recorded 
sufficient  data  to  furnish  any  comprehensive  figures  such  as  the 
Bureau  desired.  When  we  came  to  the  1917  study,  therefore, 
these  societies  were  eliminated.  For  the  second  year,  therefore, 
the  study  was  confined  to  three  societies,  yielding  a  total  of  3175 
cases,  divided  as  follows : 

Federated  Charities  1188 

Jewish  Federated  Charities  162 

Instructive  Visiting  Nurses  Association  (not  studied  in  1916)  1825 

3175 


25 

The  decrease  in  the  number  of  cases  in.  the  Federated  Charities 
and  the  Jewish  Federated  Charities  between  1917  and  1916  does 
not  indicate  any  decrease  in  the  work  of  these  organizations  or 
any  decrease  in  social  needs.  It  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  con- 
tinuous cases,  making  a  constant  drain  upon  the  societies  in  ques- 
tion were  studied  as  of  1916  and  were  therefore  not  included  in 
the  1917  study. 

SOURCE  OF  APPLICATION 

In  other  words  the  2767  Federated  Charities  cases  for  1916 
represent  the  total  of  all  cases  handled  by  the  Society  during  that 
year,  while  the  1188  cases  for  1917  represent  only  the  cases 
which  came  as  fresh  cases  to  the  Federated  Charities  in  1917,  or 
appealed  again  after  two  or  more  months  of  quiescence. 

In  general  these  cases  come  to  the  charitable  organization  by 
the  personal  action  of  the  families,  or  by  reference  to  the  charita- 
ble organization  by  some  outside  individual.  Various  sources  of 
application  are  as  follows : 

Personal  (includes  all  cases  except  where  some  outside  agen- 
cy is  in  direct  communication  with  society  interested) 2478 

Referred  by  Individual : 1974 

Referred  by  Social  Agency „ .1564 

Referred  by  Hospital  (Includes  Hospital  Social  Service) 676 

Referred  by  Dispensary    (Including  those  connected  with 

hospitals  _ „ 151 

Referred  by  Health  Department  (Includes  TB  Nurses,  School 

and  Communicable  Disease  Nurses)  399 

Referred  by  Police  Department 161 

Referred  by  Courts  or  Magistrates  (Probation  and  Juvenile 

Court  „. 722 

Referred  by  Church 115 

Eeferred  by  Supervisor  City  Charities 50 

Referred  by  Bureau  of  Labor  and  Statistics 84 

Referred  by  Miscellaneous  City,  State,  and  Federal  Depart- 
ments   289 

8663 


26 

HOUSING  CONDITIONS 

The  first  part  of  the  study  undertaken  was  that  of  the  housing 
conditions  surrounding  the  family  or  individual  applying  for 
charity. 

TYPE  OF  HOUSE 

The  term  house,  as  used  in  this  classification,  relates  to  the 
dwelling  of  the  family  interested,  and  indicates  the  general  char- 
acter of  their  habitation. 

For  this  particular  purpose  it  is  immaterial  whether  it  is  owned 
by  them  or  rented,  and  it  is  also  immaterial  whether  or  not  they 
share  it  with  others,  provided  they  have  the  use  of  the  entire 
building.  Thus,  a  family  occupying  a  private  dwelling  would  be 
so  classified,  even  though  one  or  two  of  the  rooms  therein  might 
be  rented  out  by  them ;  while  a  family  occupying  the  rented  rooms 
and  having  consequently  no  access  or  rights  in  the  remainder  of 
the  house  would  be  classified  as  living  in  a  furnished  room  house 
or  boarding  house,  according  to  its  character.  Cases  arise  in 
which  the  family  owning  the  house  will  rent  out  the  major  por- 
tion of  it  to  other  families  and  retain  for  itself  only  a  limited 
portion  of  the  house.  In  such  a  case  the  house  is  regarded  as  a 
furnished  room,  lodging  house,  two  or  three  family  house,  etc., 
according  to  its  general  character. 

For  the  same  reason  an  individual  living  apart  from  his  own 
family  and  in  the  family  of  others,  but  without  exclusive  occu- 
pancy of  any  definite  portion  of  the  house,  is  regarded  as  occu- 
pying the  house  in  which  he  lives  even  though  the  other  members 
of  the  family  are  not  considered  in  the  charitable  study.  One 
exceptional  case,  however,  arises.  There  are  a  number  of  in- 
stances in  which  the  individual  so  living  is  dependent  upon  the 
charity  of  those  with  whom  he  lives.  It  seems  desirable  to 
isolate  these  cases  and  they  are  accordingly  so  classified  below. 
In  any  study  relating  to  questions  of  over-crowding  the  cards 
relating  to  such  individuals  can  easily  be  eliminated  from  the 
count. 

The  distinctions  drawn  in  the  following  classifications  between 
apartments,  basements,  furnished  room  house,  boarding  house, 
lodging  house,  two  or  three  family  house,  and  tenements,  are 
based  upon  the  building  code  of  Baltimore  City. 


27 

No.  of 
Type  of  House  Cases 

Unknown ^ - 996 

Homeless   15 

Private  dwelling  3018 

Apartment,  i.  e.,  three  or  more  families  with  independent 

toilet,  bathroom  and  kitchen  facilities 21 

Family  classified  as  basement  dwellers  where  major  part  of 
life  of  the  family  is  conducted  in  a  room  or  rooms  lying 

one-half  or  more  below  the  street  level _ 43 

Single  rooms,  i.  e.,  living  in  one  room  and  housekeeping 59 

Furnished  room  house,  i.  e.,  a  house  having  one  or  more  fur- 
nished room  to  rent  but  in  which  meals  are  not  furnished  271 
Boarding  house,  i.  e.,  a  house  having  one  or  more  furnished 

rooms  for  rent  and  also  furnishing  table  board 128 

Lodging  house,  i.e.,  a  tenement  (see  below)  caring  for  tran- 
sients        29 

Two  or  three  family  house,  i.  e.,  a  house  occupied  by  two 
families  living  independently  or  two  or  three  families 

sharing  toilet,  bathroom,  or  kitchen  facilities 2042 

Tenement,  i.  e.,  building  occupied  by  more  than  three  families 
or  more  than  two  on  a  floor,  having  toilet,  bathroom,  or 

kitchen  facilities  in  common 278 

Living  with  relatives  or  friends.  Used  where  no  definite  por- 
tion of  the  house  belongs  to  the  individual,  where  the 
individual  is  wholly  or  partially  dependent  upon  the  fam- 
ily with  whom  he  lives  or  where  both  conditions  exist 1763 


8663 

NUMBER  OF  ROOMS 

This  classification  refers  to  the  number  of  rooms  accessible  to 
the  use  of  the  family,  and  therefore  in  the  case  of  a  minor  re- 
siding with  a  family  not  the  subject  of  study  the  number  of  rooms 
will  be  those  occupied  by  the  family  with  which  the  minor  lives. 

No.ol 
No.  of  Rooms  Cases 

Unknown   961 

Boarding  (Used  in  cases  where  we  have  no  information  as  to 
the  number  of  rooms  occupied  by  the  boarder,  or  in  cases 


28 

where  the  boarder  has  not  exclusive  occupancy  of  any 

portion  of  the  house)  „ 1879 

One  , : 681 

Two  882 

Three 851 

Four 1132 

Five 505 

Six 1368 

Seven 190 

Eight 140 

Nine   : 61 

Ten  or  more 13 


8663 
NUMBER  OF  PERSONS  IN  THE  HOUSEHOLD 

Inasmuch  as  the  information  under  this  heading  is  to  be  avail- 
able for  the  study  of  over-crowding,  the  number  should  include  all 
those  who  have  access  to  and  use  of  the  rooms  covered  above. 
In  the  case  of  a  minor  they  will  therefore  include  all  the  persons 
in  the  household  with  whom  the  minor  lives. 

No.ol 
No.  in  Household  Cases 

Unknown  : 132 

One   2042 

Two 1256 

Three 1070 

Four  1015 

Five  955 

Six   : 791 

Seven 583 

Eight   404 

Nine 214 

Ten  122 

Eleven  or  more 79 


8663 

Toilet  facilities  within  the  house  as  contrasted  with  those  in 
the  outside  yard. 


29 

No.  of 
Facilities  Cases 

No  information  ..-2146 

Yes   1460 

No  5057 


8663 
Bathing  facilities  within  the  house  or  apartment. 

No.  of 
Facilities  Cases 

No  information  2174 

Yes' 1657 

No 4832 


8663 

NUMBER  OF  ROOMS  WITH  OUTSIDE  WINDOWS 

No.  of 
No.  of  Rooms  Cases 

No  information 2539 

None   11 

One  624 

Two  794 

Three   695 

Four  or  more 4000 


8663 


NUMBER  OF  ROOMS  WITH  SKYLIGHT  OR  WINDOWS  ON 
COURT  OR  CUT  LESS  THAN  THREE  FEET  WIDE 

No.  of 
No.  of  Rooms  Cases 

No  information 3081 

None 4967 

One  598 

Two  :::!. - 10 

Three   4 

Four  or  more 3 

8663 


30 

NUMBER  OF  ROOMS  WITH  NO  OUTSIDE  WINDOWS 

No.  of 
No.  of  Rooms  Cases 

No  information 3068 

None 4789 

One  733 

Two  : 66 

Three   4 

Four  or  more 3 


8663 


These  housing  conditions  indicate  on  the  whole  a  rather  better 
condition  than  might  have  been  anticipated,  particularly  in  the 
matter  of  lighting  and  potential  ventilation.  Bathing  and  toilet 
facilities,  however,  are  distinctly  unsatisfactory. 

FAMILY  STATUS 
The  second  group  of  statistics  with  which  the  study  concerned 
itself  was  the  status  of  the  family,  taking  up  first  the  question 
as  to  the  organization  of  the  family,  whether  married  or  unmar- 
ried, whether  the  husband  is  living  or  not,  and  similar  questions ; 
dealing  next  with  the  number  of  children  in  the  family  and  then 
with  the  income  of  the  family,  rent,  and  insurance  expense.  The 
results  of  these  studies  are  as  follows : 

FAMILY  STATUS  AT  THE  TIME  OF  THE  LAST 
REOPENING  OF  THE  CASE 

No.  of 
Status  Cases 

A    No  information  3 

B    Minor  away  from  home  or  without  protection 156 

C  Man  and  woman  married  and  living  together,  including 
cases  where  the  man  and  woman  are  temporarily  sepa- 
rated on  account  of  financial  stress  or  on  account  of 

unsettled  employment 3926 

D    Man  and  woman  married  but  since  separated  or  divorced...  862 
E    Man  and  woman  unmarried,  living  together,  including  the 
case  of  an  establishment  supported  by  the  man  and 
visited  by  him  at  intervals,  the  irregular  alliance  still 
continuing  '. 143 


31 

F  Man  and  woman  unmarried  and  separated,  including  all 
cases  of  irregular  alliance  from  which  the  man  or  the 
woman  has  withdrawn 94 

G  Widow,  having  contracted  no  subsequent  alliance.  A 
widow  who  has  subsequently  remarried  is  classified 
under  1  or  2  and  a  widow  who  has  contracted  an  irreg- 
ular alliance  is  classified  under  3  or  4 1191 

H    A  widower  or  deserted  husband,  who  has  contracted  no 

subsequent  alliance 267 

I  A  deserted  wife  who  has  contracted  no  subsequent  alli- 
ance. This  case  might  properly  be  included  with  2 
above,  but  wife  desertion  as  a  cause  of  social  stress  is 
sufficiently  important  to  warrant  a  separate  classi- 
fication     473 

J  Unmarried  mother,  other  than  those  included  in  3  or  4, 
including  any  woman  with  an  illegitimate  child  and  no 
support,  and  including  also  a  pregnant  unmarried  wo- 
man. A  divorced  woman  or  a  widow  with  an  illegiti- 
mate child  might  be  thus  classified  under  either  2,  5,  or 
8.  The  importance  of  illegitimacy,  however,  as  a  cause 
of  social  distress  is  sufficiently  great  to  lead  us  to 
classify  such  a  case  under  8  rather  than  under  2  or  5. 
The  fact  that  our  study  is  a  study  of  poverty  largely 
from  the  economic  and  not  from  the  moral  side  leads 
us  to  classify  a  woman  with  an  illegitimate  child  who 
•is  married  to  or  living  with  a  man  who  supports  her, 
or  if  divorced  is  in  receipt  of  adequate  alimony,  under 

classes  1,  2,  or  4,  rather  than  under  8 237 

K    Single  man  or  woman „ 923 

L  Any  other  case  not  included  above.  In  particular  includes 
families  where  the  man  or  woman  is  in  a  correctional 
institution,  sanitarium,  or  home,  or  is  under  contract 
to  remain  away  for  sometime,  i.  e.,  military  service 388 


8663 


CHILDREN  UNDER  16  YEARS  IN  THE  FAMILY 
This  is  intended  to  include  the  offspring  of  the  man  and  woman 


32 

living  with  them,  or  i^  the  case  of  a  minor  to  include  his  sisters 
and  brothers  living  in  the  same  household  with  himself. 

No.  of 
No.  of  Children  Cases 

Unknown  522 

None 3367 

One   1210 

Two 1068 

Three  946 

Four 685 

Five 472 

Six 247 

Seven  107 

Eight   35 

Nine 2 

Ten  or  more 2 


8663 

CHILDREN  16  YEARS  AND  OVER  IN  THE  FAMILY 

This  in  intended  to  cover  the  offspring  of  the  man  and  woman 
residing  with  them,  or  in  the  case  of  a  minor  his  sisters  and 
brothers  residing  in  the  same  family  with  himself. 

No.  of 
No.  of  Children  Cases 

Unknown   ^ 517 

None  6709 

One 837 

Two    361 

Three 154 

Four  .  60 

Five  20 

Six   5 


8663 

RELATION  OF  CHILDREN  TO  MAN  AND  WOMAN 

This  includes  all  offspring  whether  residing  with  the  man  and 
woman  or  removed  from  the  home. 


33 

No.  of  Cases 
Relationship  *  Children      Children 

over  16       under  16 

All  own  stepchildren 1256         4318 

All  stepchildren 44  119 

Partly  own  children,  partly  stepchildren 133  335 

(This  excludes  cases  where  number  are  unknown,  or  where 
there  are  no  children.) 

OTHER  ADULTS  IN  THE  HOUSEHOLD 

Adults  include  all  those  of  16  years  or  over,  and  this  tabulation 
is  intended  to  cover  all  those  other  than  the  man  and  woman  and 
their  offspring. 

In  the  case  of  a  minor,  since  the  question  related  to  the  outsider 
with  whom  the  minor  is  associated,  the  number  should  include 
the  family  with  whom  the  minor  lives. 

No.  of 
No.  of  Adults  Cases 

Unknown 121 

None  - 7488 

One : 692 

Two  227 

Three   ,. 74 

Four  or  more 61 


8663 
OTHER  CHILDREN  IN  THE  HOUSEHOLD 

This  includes  all  individuals  under  16  years  of  age  other  than 
the  offspring  of  the  man  and  woman,  and  in  the  case  of  a  minor 
includes  all  other  children  in  the  household  with  which  he  lives. 

No.  of 
No.  in  Household  Cases 

No  information Ill 

None  8227 

One   214 

Two  72 

Three 24 

Four  or  more 15 


34 

NUMBER  OF  CHILDREN  DEAD 

This  field  includes  all  children  whether  legitimate  or  illegiti- 
mate, and  in  the  case  of  a  minor  refers  only  to  his  brothers  and 
sisters. 

No.  of 
No.  Dead  Cases 

Unknown   244 

None  ., 7539 

One   565 

Two : 137 

Three 52 

Four  or  more . .  126 


8663 


ILLEGITIMATE  CHILDREN  LIVING 

This  is  not  in  addition  to  the  children  listed  in  the  tabulations 
of  children  under  and  over  16  years  above,  where  no  distinction 
was  drawn  between  legitimacy  and  illegitimacy,  but  is  introduced 
as  a  separate  classification  in  order  to  furnish  material  for  a 
study  of  illegitimacy  as  an  economic  factor.  It  also  has  no  rela- 
tionship to  the  age  of  the  child. 

No.  of 
Relationship   of   Children   to    Man   and  Woman  Cases 

No  information 150 

None  7949 

Children  of  man 83 

Children  of  woman 399 

Children  of  man  and  woman  jointly 75 

Children  of  man  or  woman,  but  by  woman  or  man  other  than 

partner  in  present  alliance 7 


8663 


CHILDREN  AWAY  FROM  HOME   CONTRIBUTING  REGU- 
LARLY TO  THE  SUPPORT  OF  THE  FAMILY 

This  includes  all  children  who  contribute  regularly  food,  fuel, 
or  money,  and  has  no  reference  to  the  age  of  the  children. 


35 

No.  of 
No.  of  Children  Cases 

No  information  284 

None 8059 

One   256 

Two  - 44 

Three  9 

Four  or  more 11 


8663 

CHILDREN  AWAY  FROM  HOME  NOT  CONTRIBUTING 
TO  THE  SUPPORT  OF  THE  FAMILY,  OR  CON- 
TRIBUTING ONLY  SPASMODICALLY 

In  both  this  and  the  previous  field  where  a  minor  is  concerned 
the  children  referred  to  are  his  sisters  and  brothers. 

No.  of 
No.  of  Children  Cases 

No  information 346 

None 6331 

One 961 

Two 448 

Three 270 

Four  or  more 307 


8663 
TOTAL  INCOME 

This  covers  the  total  income  per  week  (to  the  nearest  dollar) 
of  the  present  members  of  the  family  group,  including  the  por- 
tion of  the  income  of  children  contributed  to  the  family  support. 
It  is  based  upon  the  average  per  week  for  six  months  prior  to  the 
application  for  aid  or  assistance,  so  far  as  it  can  be  ascertained. 

If  the  study  is  concerned  with  a  minor  the  income  is  that  of 
the  family  with  which  he  lives,  including  his  board,  as  the  pur- 
pose in  view  is  to  get  some  index  of  possible  living  conditions. 

No.  of 
Income  Cases 

Unknown 2869 

None 869 

§  1  to  $  5 1052 


36 

6  to    10  1788 

11  to    15 1380 

16  to    20 474 

21  to    25 149 

26  to    48  ; 81 


8662 
RENT  PER  WEEK 

Under  rent  is  included  board  or  payments  on  house  in  process 
of  buying,  inasmuch  as  the  object  in  view  is  the  current  drain  upon 
the  family  resources  rather  than  a  study  of  rental  values.  In 
the  case  of  a  minor  the  rent  should  be  that  of  the  family  with 
which  he  lives. 

No.  of 
Rent  Cases 

No  information 2370 

Residence  owned  by  the  family 306 

No  rent , 804 

Less  than  $1.00  419 

$1.00  or  over  but  under  $2.00 1895 

$2.00  or  over  but  under  $3.00   1848 

$3.00  or  over  but  under  $4.00   662 

$4.00  or  over  but  under  $5.00   234 

$5.00  or  over  but  under  $6.00 76 

$6.00  or  over  but  under  $7.00 22 

$7.00  or  over  but  under  $8.00   12 

$8.00  and  over 15 


8663 

INSURANCE  PAID  WEEKLY 

This  covers  all  insurance  paid  out  by  the  family  for  the  benefit 
of  members  of  the  family  group,  or  on  members  of  the  family 
group. 

No.  of 
Insurance  Cases 

Unknown    3510 

None 1899 

Under  10  cents .     33 


37 

10  cents,  under  15  cents 82 

15  cents,  under  20  cents 70 

20  cents,  under  25  cents 149 

25  cents,  under  30  cents 118 

30  cents,  under  35  cents 100 

35  cents,  under  45  cents  242 

45  cents,  under  55  cents 218 

55  cents  and  over 703 

Indefinite  amount  1539 


8663 


HEADSHIP  OF  THE  FAMILY 

The  third  set  of  facts  examined  relates  to  the  heads  of  the 
families,  nationality,  age,  literacy,  etc. 

In  this  study  the  words  man  and  woman  are  used  to  denote 
the  masculine  and  feminine  heads  of  the  family.  They  are  used 
rather  than  the  terms  husband  and  wife  or  father  and  mother 
because  of  the  large  number  of  irregular  alliances  occuring  among 
the  cases  studied. 

In  the  case  of  a  minor  the  statistics  given  with  regard  to  housing 
conditions  related  to  the  family  with  which  he  resides  as  indicating 
his  present  living  conditions.  In  the  present  group,  however,  the 
facts  bear  rather  upon  the  hereditary  influences  operating  upon 
the  minor  than  upon  his  present  status,  and  the  data  are  therefore 
those  for  his  own  family. 

BIRTHPLACE  OF  MAN  AND  WOMAN 

No.  of  Cases 

Birthplace                                        Men  Women 

Unknown   . 811  788 

Native  White 3888  3926 

Native  Indian 

Native  Colored  1937  1919 

Foreign  Colored  11  2 

England  „ 47  45 

Ireland 69  87 

Scotland  7  5 

British  Colonies,  White 7  7 


38 

French  Canada 

Germany  (excluding  Poland)  253  252 

Holland 3  2 

Belgium  5 

Switzerland  1  2 

German  Poland  53  56 

Sweden  4  3 

Norway : 4  3 

Denmark 1 

Italy  211  194 

Sicily  6  4 

France   .  11  6 

Spain 2  1 

Latin  America  (white)  5  3 

Portugal  1 

Austria-Hungary  (excluding  Poland)  69  79 

Austria  Poland  52  53 

Bohemia 51  65 

Balkan  States 8  7 

Greece  7  6 

Roumania  7  6 

Russia 803  816 

Finland,  Esthonia,  Lithuania 83  85 

Russian   Poland,   includes   Poles  not   specified   as 

Austrians  or  Germans 242  239 

China   

Japan 

India  (Hindu) 1 

East  India  (Filipino,  Hawaiin,  etc.)  

Turkey  .1  1 

Syria  and  Armenia 2  1 


8663         8663 

LJh.NGTH  OF  RESIDENCE  OF  A  HEAD  OF  A  FAMILY  IN 
THE  UNITED  STATES 

The  head  of  a  family  indicates  the  man  of  the  family,  excepting 
in  cases  D,  F,  G,  I,  and  J,  under  family  status  above.  In  these 
cases  the  woman  becomes  the  head  of  the  family. 


39 

No.  of 
Length  of  Residence  Cases 

No  information  287 

Less  than  1  year 16 

1  year  and  less  than  3 ^  55 

3  years  and  less  than  5 140 

5  years  and  less  than  10 243 

10  years  or  more 7922 


8663 


LENGTH  OF  RESIDENCE  OF  HEAD  OF  FAMILY  (DEFINED 
AS   ABOVE)    IN  BALTIMORE   CITY,    INCLUDING 
CASES    WHERE    BALTIMORE    IS    HEAD- 
QUARTERS   FOR   A   FAMILY   OR 
FAMILY  HEAD  MORE  OR 
LESS  ITINERANT 

No.  o± 
Length  of  Residence  Cases 

No  information  684 

Less  than  1  year 282 

1  year  and  less  than  3 221 

3  years  and  less  than  5 248 

5  years  and  less  than  10 4336 

10  years  or  more 2892 


8663 

RELIGIOUS  AFFILIATION 

As  has  been  said  above,  the  study  in  this  particular  case  was 
undertaken  from  the  economic  point  of  view.  Religion  entered 
into  the  study,  therefore,  not  in  any  question  of  denominationalism 
but  simply  as  indicating  the  family  affiiliations  of  the  individual 
and  the  sources  to  which  he  migh  naturally  turn  for  aid  and 
advice.  Hebrew  does  not  necessarily  mean  an  orthodox  Hebrew, 
or  Roman  Catholic  mean  that  the  individual  is  a  communicant  in 
good  standing  or  even  a  communicant  at  all,  and  the  term  Prot- 
estant does  not  mean  that  a  man  is  a  member  of  any  Protestant 
denomination.  Roman  Catholic  means  merely  that  the  man  is 
affiliated  with  the  Roman  Catholic  group  and  would  naturally 


40 

turn  for  help  to  the  benevolent  societies  organized  under  the 
control  of  the  Roman  Church.  Protestant  indicates  nothing  more 
than  that  he  has  neither  Catholic  nor  Hebrew  affiliations  and  so 
would  have  no  claims  direct  or  indirect  upon  the  charities  of 
either  of  these  organizations.  Those  who  are  marked  "none" 
under  the  head  of  religion  are  those  only  who  have  definitely 
placed  themselves  in  that  group. 

No.  of  Cases 
Religion  Men  Women 

No  information  2107  ISSiT 

No  religion 99  62 

Protestant  3561  387C 

Roman  Catholic 1891  1861 

Greek  Catholic 44  .  35 

Hebrew 961  985 


8663  8663 

AGE 

No.  of  Cases 

Age  Men  Women 

Unknown 1848  1663 

Less  than  18  years 69  100 

18  years  and  less  than  21 170  312 

21  years  and  less  than  30 1248  1727 

SO  years  and  less  than  40 1751  2105 

40  years  and  less  than  50 1295  1242 

50  years  and  less  than  55 391  361 

55  years  and  less  than  60 223  245 

60  years  and  less  than  65 159  181 

65  years  and  less  than  70 136  142 

70  years  and  over 168  284 

Dead  1205  301 


8663  8663 

LITERACY 

No.  of  Cases 

Decree  of  Literacy                                       Men  Women 

No  information  2865  2553 

Speaks  English  but  does  not  write  it,  and  speaks 

no  other  language 174  283 


41 

Reads,  writes,  and  speaks  English 4583         4560 

Speaks  another  language  but  does  not  speak,  read, 

or  write  English  325  553 

Speaks  another  language  and  English  but  does  not 

read  or  write  English 716  714 


8663         8663 

An  attempt  was  made  to  secure  information  as  to  the  literacy 
of  the  children,  but  the  information  contained  in  the  case  records 
was  so  inadequate  that  no  valuable  data  were  secured. 

HANDICAPS  OF  THE  FAMILY  AND  INSTITUTIONAL 
RECORDS  OF  MAN  AND  WOMAN 

No  point  in  the  nomenclature  of  this  study  has  given  the  Com- 
mittee and  the  Bureau  more  difficulty  than  to  find  the  proper  term 
for  the  elements  which  are  included  here  under  the  term  of  ''hand- 
icap." The  idea  was  to  group  those  things  which  interfered  with 
the  industrial  efficiency  of  the  family  and  yet  did  not  arise  from 
external  circumstances.  Physical  weakness  or  deformity,  mental 
sub-normality  or  abnormality,  and  moral  delinquency  of  sucn  a 
character  as  to  effect  either  the  economic  independence  or  the 
industrial  efficiency  of  the  family  are  all  included.  Thus,  un- 
der the  mentally  handicapped  group  would  be  included  all  those 
who  were  mentally  retarded,  feeble-minded,  insane,  epileptic,  im- 
becile or  idiotic.  Under  the  physically  handicapped  group  would 
be  included  those  who  were  crippled,  tubercular,  blind,  deaf,  or 
dumb,  cancerous,  venereal,  paralytic,  or  subject  to  chronic  ail- 
ments interfering  with  industrial  efficiency,  such  as  rheumatism, 
heart  trouble,  old  age,  hernia,  kidney  trouble,  etc.,  and  those 
who  were  undergrown.  Under  the  morally  handicapped  group 
would  be  included  cases  of  drunkenness,  drug  using,  sex  im- 
morality (particularly  those  cases  leading  to  non-support) ,  mendi- 
cancy, wife  desertion  or  habitual  non-support,  bigamy,  heavy 
drinking  short  of  drunkenness  but  sufficient  to  affect  the  economic 
independence  of  the  family,  criminal  neglect,  cruelty  to  children 
or  others,  and  incorrigibility.  All  these  things  are  included  for 
want  of  a  better  term  under  the  single  term  "handicap,"  as  indi- 
cating something  which  interferes  with  the  proper  economic 
development  of  the  family  life. 


42 

Each  of  the  three  classes  of  handicaps  as  defined  above  is 
"divided  again  into  three  groups,  temporary,  former  handicaps 
from  which  the  individual  or  family  has  recovered,  and  present 
continuing  handicaps.  The  individual  suffering  from  a  temporary 
handicap  is  not  made  the  subject  of  special  study,  and  in  the 
cases  where  there  are  present  continuing  handicaps  no  attention 
is  paid  on  the  general  family  card  to  former  handicaps  from  which 
the  individual  or  family  has  recovered.  These,  however,  are  in- 
cluded in  the  study  of  the  individual  on  the  handicap  or  sub-normal 
card  if  the  opportunity  offers. 

No.  of 
Handicap  Cases 

a  No  information 817 

b  Temporary  only 1466 

c  Past  mental  recovered  from :. 1 

d  Past  physical  recovered  from 12 

e  Past  moral  recovered  from 25 

f  Present  continuing  mental  463 

g  Present  continuing  physical  1959 

h  Present  continuing  moral  2274 

i  Two  present  continuing  handicaps 1351 

j  Three  present  continuing  handicaps 295 


8663 


As  indicated  above  b,  c,  d,  and  e  are  used  only  when  there 
are  no  present  continuing  handicaps;  f,  g,  and  h  are  used  when 
there  is  a  single  handicap,  and  i  and  j  when  there  are  two  or  more 
continuing  handicaps. 

It  must  be  clearly  understood  that  handicaps  are  considered 
only  in  so  far  as  they  bear  upon  economic  efficiency.  Thus  a 
woman  having  an  illegitimate  child  but  at  present  married,  or 
living  under  an  irregular  alliance  securing  her  support  and  that 
of  the  child,  is  not  treated  on  account  of  this  child  as  having  a 
present  economic  handicap.  If,  however,  there  was  a  period 
during  which  she  was  responsible  for  the  support  of  the  child 
and  was  consequently  hindered  in  her  search  for  occupation  by 
the  necessity  for  the  care  of  the  child,  she  would  be  classified 
under  e  above  as  presenting  a  case  of  sex  immorality  which  had 
led  to  a  financial  handicap  subsequently  removed. 


43 

INSTITUTIONAL  RECORD 

Under  this  heading  are  included  not  only  residents  in  correc- 
tional, penal,  or  remedial  institutions,  but  also  those  cases  where 
the  individual  is  released  on  parole. 

No.  of 
Institutional  Record  Cases 

Unknown 2923 

Both  Non-Institutional 3637 

Man  Non-Institutional,  Woman  Institutional 361 

Woman  Non-Institutional,  Man  Institutional 1561 

Both  Institutional 181 


8663 


PAST  AND   PRESENT  INSTITUTIONAL  RECORD 
OF  CHILDREN 

'"Children"  is  used  here  in  the  sense  of  offspring  without  regard 
to  legitimacy  and  without  regard  to  present  age.  The  institu- 
tional record  is  both  past  and  present. 

No.  of 

Institutional  Record,  Past  and  Present  Cases 

Unknown 1081 

Non-institutional 6924 

Correctional  or  Penal  Institution 190 

Feeble-minded  Institution 20 

Insane  Asylum 17 

Orphanage 162 

Sanatorium  or  Hospital 126 

Epileptic  Institution   3 

Wards  of  Child  Caring  Agency 42 

Deaf  and  Dumb  Institution  or  Blind  Asylum 14 

Other  Institutions , 2 

Correctional  and  Feeble-minded  Institution 7 

Correctional  and  Insane  Institution 6 

Correctional,  Institutional  and  Orphanage 23 

Correctional,  Institutional  and  Sanatorium  or  Hospital 7 

Correctional  Institution  and  Wards  of  Child  Caring  Agency...       4 

Correctional,  and  Deaf,  Dumb  and  Blind  Institution 1 

Correctional  and  Other  Institution  2 


Feeble-minded  and  Insane  Asylums .1 

Feeble-minded  Institution  and  Orphanage 2 

Feeble-minded  Institution  and  Wards  of  Child  Caring  Agency  2 

Insane  Asylum  and  Orphanage  1 

Insane  Asylum  and  Wards  of  Child  Caring  Agency 1 

Orphanage  and  Sanatorium  or  Hospital 12 

Orphanage  and  Wards  of  Child  Caring  Agency 5 

Orphanage  and  Blind,  Deaf  and  Dumb  Asylum 2 

Sanatorium  or  Hospital  and  Wards  of  Child  Caring  Agency...  1 

In  three  or  more  of  the  above  Institutions 5 


8663 


REASON  FOR  APPLICATION  TO  THE  SOCIETY 
INTERESTED 

It  is  not  our  belief  that  the  real  underlying  reason  for  appli- 
cation to  charitable  or  social  organizations  can  be  definitely  as- 
certained or  coded.  We  recognize  fully  the  fact  that  in  many 
cases  the  reason  is  not  single,  but  a  complex  made  up  of  a  large 
number  of  causes.  We  recognize  further  the  fact  that  in  many 
cases  the  individual  himself  does  not  know  the  true  reason  for 
his  trouble;  and  that  the  Society  interested  can  only  determine 
the  reason  after  a  long  study,  or  in  some  cases,  perhaps,  remain 
permanently  in  doubt.  Eliminating  these  special  cases,  however, 
it  seems  to  the  Committee  worth  while  to  tabulate  the  immediate 
apparent  cause  which  placed  the  family  or  the  individual  seek- 
ing relief  in  its  position  of  economic  dependence.  We  ha;ve  not, 
however,  accepted  as  the  immediate  cause  the  reason  assigned 
by  the  family  itself  in  its  first  appeal,  but  whatever  now  appears, 
in  view  of  all  the  facts  at  hand,  to  have  been  the  immediate  un- 
derlying cause  which  forced  the  family  to  make  its  appeal.  For 
example,  a  family  appealing  for  temporary  assistance,  such  as 
fuel,  food,  or  clothing,  may  be  in  that  condition  on  account  of 
the  removal  of  the  head  of  the  family  to  a  sanatorium  for  tuber- 
cular patients.  In  such  a  case  the  immediate  cause  would  be 
classed  for  the  purposes  of  this  study  not  as  need  of  fuel  but 
as  tuberculosis. 

We  have  divided  such  reasons  into  the  broad  classes  of: 


45 

No.  of 
Class  Cause  Cases 

A       Family  Problems  1761 

B       Physical  Causes  3991 

C       Labor  Conditions  447 

D       Abnormal  or  Criminal  Practices 694 

E       Temporary  Special  Needs 613 

F       Need  of  Miscellaneous  Non-Material  Service 359 

G       The    Withdrawal    of    an    Essential    Member    of    the 

Family  Group 351 

H       Involuntary  Cases  Investigated  or  Aided  at  the  Re- 
quest of  Outsiders  or  upon  the  Complaints   of 

Outsiders   261 

I       Miscellaneous  Group -  186 


8663 
These  are  again  subdivided  according  to  the  following  scheme : 

Fatnily  Problems 
A 

No.  of  Cases 

Alimony   51 

Desertion  or  non-support 739 

Marital  Infidelity  13 

Incompatability 30 

Neglected,  immoral  and  incorrigible  children_ 252 

Failure  on  part  of  children  to  support  parents 52 

Failure  on  part  of  parents  to  support  children 19 

Securing  support  from  relatives — e.  g.,  father  of  illegit- 
imate child 45 

Care  and  custody  of  children — Day  Nursery,  Boarding, 

Home,  etc 281 

Problems  of  old  age 199 

Miscellaneous — Adjusting  living  conditions — ^poor  liv- 
ing conditions 80 

1761 

Physical  Causes 
B 

Temporary  illness  1470 

Tuberculosis 708 


46 

Permanent  or  long  continued  disability  other  than  Tu- 
berculosis, includes  mental  trouble 1478 

Accident — Industrial   54 

Accident — Non-Industrial  52 

Death — Necessitating  temporary  relief  12 

Death — Necessitating  permanent  financial  or  other  ad- 
justment    77 

Pregnancy,  child  birth 138 

Miscellaneous   , 2 


Labor  Conditions 
C 

Out  of  work 379 

Strike  or  lockout 4 

Part  time  59 

Miscellaneous   :.. 5 


Abnormal  or  Criminal  Practices 
D 

Drunkenness,  or  heavy  drinking 149 

Drug  using,  violation  of  law 17 

Shiftlessness  91 

Mendicancy   10 

Immorality   153 

Larceny,  burglary,  embezzlement 223 

Manslaughter,  assault  14 

Miscellaneous   37 


Temporary  Special  Needs 
E 

Clothing  94 

Food 24 

Fuel   21 

Children's  diet  183 

Need  of  Oculist's  or  Optician's  services 152 

Need  of  Dental  service 18 

Transportation   14 

Request  for  loan  45 

Miscellaneous   62 


3991 


447 


694 


613 


47 

Miscellaneous  Non-Material  Service 
F 

Legal  advice 38 

Medical  advice  48 

Assistance  in  procuring  employment 87 

Advice  regarding  Chattel  Loan  paying  installments 13 

Securing  license  and  permit  for  Bay  View,  work,  huck- 
stering, begging,  and  peddling 62 

Other  friendly  advice 90 

Long  continued  protection  for  woman  with  or  without 

child  : 11 

On  probation 3 

Miscellaneous  7 

Withdrawal  of  an  Essential  Member  of  Family  Group 

G 

Military  and  Naval  service 66 

Imprisonment 280 

Continued  absence  less  than  desertion 5 


Involuntary  Cases  Investigated  by  Request  or 

Upon  Complaint 

H 

Complaint  or  request  of  neighbors 9 

Complaint  or  request  of  authorities 145 

Complaint  or  request  of  other  individuals 106 

Miscellaneous   ^ 1 


Miscellaneous  Group 
I 

Chronic  insufficient  income  90 

Woman  with  illegitimate  Child 61 

Miscellaneous   35 


359 


351 


261 


186 


866S 


FINANCIAL  STATISTICS  OF  INDIVIDUALS 
Wherever  the  case  record  indicated  that  there  were  one  or 
more  wage  earners  in  the  family  a  separate  card  was  prepared 


48 

for  each  wage  earner,  and  the  available  data  prepared  for  tabu- 
lation. We  find  that  these  wage  earners  are  distributed  between 
the  various  societies  interested  as  follows: 

No.  of  Gases 
Societies  Men  Wom>?n 

Federated  Charities  2780         2338 

Jewish  Federated  Charities  694  394 

Henry  Watson  Children's  Aid  Society 150  160 

Instructive  Visiting  Nurse  Association 1131  600 

Prisoners'  Aid  Society  „ 873  48 

Social  Service — Johns  Hopkins  University 220  128 

Society  for  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Children 163  133 

Supervisor  City  Charities 230  95 

Young  Ladies'  Benevolent  Society 10  47 


6251         3943 

The  ages  of  the  wage  earners  in  1916  show  the  maximum  num- 
ber lying  between  20  and  29  for  men,  and  between  10  and  19  for 
women,  while  in  1917  the  maximum  for  both  men  and  women,  lies 
between  30  and  39.  This  is  probably  due  to  the  fact  that  the 
figures  for  1917  do  not  include  the  Henry  Watson  Children's  Aid 
Society,  whose  cases  deal  largely  with  the  children  of  younger 
people  ai;id  young  unmarried  mothers. 

AGE  OF  WAGE  EARNER 


1916 


Age  Men 

Unknown   452 

Less  than  10 .- 

10  to  19 684 

20  to  29 974 

30  to  39 940 

40  to  49 692 

50  to  59 299 

60  to  69 118 

70  to  79 34 

SO  to  89 1 

90  or  over 1 


No. 
6 

Women 
271 

of  Persons 

1917 
Men 
658 

Women 
178 

1 

6 

3 

609 

189 

180 

557 

235 

266 

522 

406 

276 

355 

310 

202 

146 

127 

108 

83 

72 

68 

41 

47 

51 

12 

6 

9 

1 

4 

4195    2598    2056    1345 


49 


The  average  weekly  income  of  the  men  and  women  arranged 
according  to  age  is  as  follows: 

Average  Average 

Weekly  Wage  Weekly  Income 

1916  1916 

Age                                 Men          Women  Men           Women 

Unknown  $10.91       $4.55  $11.00       $4.96 

Less  than  10 1.50 

10  to  19 5.68         4.47  5.68         4.50 

20  to  29 10.84         4.77  10.93         4.93 

30  to  39 10.81         4.24  10.89         4.87 

40  to  49 10.89         3.44  11.02         3.76 

50  to  59 9.91         4.05  9.92         4.64 

60  to  69 7.57         3.45  7.63         3.67 

70  to  79 6.35         1.77  6.12         2.56 

80  to  89 1.69  8.50         4.59 

9o  or  over 5.00         3.00 

1917 

Average  Average 

Weekly  Wage  Weekly  Income 

Age                                 Men          Women  Men           Women 

Unknown   $12.10       $5.29  $12.31       $6.04 

Less  than  10 12.00 

10  to  19 6.28         4.62  6.28         4.91 

20  to  29 11.15         5.04  11.25         5.42 

30  to  39 12.27         5.13  12.41         5.82 

40  to  49 12.06         4.59  12.38         5.75 

50  to  59 10.52         4.14  10.84         5.94 

60  to  69 9.52         3.66  9.43         4.12 

70  to  79 5.75         3.09  5.97         4.61 

80  to  89 7.00         2.25  6.29         3.04 

90  or  over 9.00 


RELATION  OF  WAGE  EARNER  TO  FAMILY 

No.  of  Persons 

Relationship                                          Men  Women 

Minor  away  from  home  or  without  protection 7  14 

Man  4529 

Woman 2664 

Child  „ 1055  890 

Stepchild  of  man 35  15 


50 

Stepchild  of  woman 7  7 

Illegitimate  child  2 

Adopted  child 5  1 

Other  child                        5  3 

Other  adult  125  143 

Single  man  or  woman 481  206 


6251         3943 

An  attempt  was  also  made  to  tabulate  the  amount  of  insurance 
paid  by  the  various  wage  earners.  The  information  secured  was 
not  particularly  satisfactory,  as  is  evidenced  by  the  following 
table : 

INSURANCE  PAID 
Weekly  sums  paid  out  by  the  wage  earner  himself: 

No.  of  Persons 
Amount  Paid  Men  Women 

No  information 3253         1783 

Amount  indefinite 1080  710 

None  1115  839 

Under  10  cents  97  89 

10  cents  or  over,  but  under  15 231  246 

15  cents  or  over,  but  under  20 116  63 

20  cents  or  over,  but  under  25 104  94 

25  cents  or  over,  but  under  30 74  39 

30  cents  or  over,  but  under  35 29  17 

35  cents  or  over,  but  under  45 49  29 

45  cents  or  over,  but  under  55 32  11 

Over  55  cents 71  23 


6251    3943 

OCCUPATION  OF  MAN 
Wherever  definite  information  is  known  with  regard  to  the 
occupation  of  the  individual  it  is  specified.  Where  no  informa- 
tion is  available  with  regard  to  the  individual  but  his  employer 
is  known,  classification  of  the  employer  is  used.  The  attempt  has 
been  here  to  divide  occupations  usual  to  men  into  broad  classes 
which  again  sub-divide  the  unpublished  figures  and  to  show  the 
average,  wage  received  by  these  workers. 


51 


Occupation  g 

Unknown  132 

Civil  Service  21 

Unskilled  Work 450 

Personal  and  Public  Service  57 
Factory  and  Manufacturing 

Plant  184 

Building  Trades 115 

Transportation   87 

Printing  Trades  21 

Professional   24 

Clerical   62 

Non-salaried  Tradesmen  172 

Persons  having  no  occupa- 
tion but  income 24 


Occupation  g 

Occupation  unknown  62 

Homework  54 

Unskilled  work  80 

Personal  Service,  Individual 
and   Family   and   Public 

Service   229 

Factory   166 

Transportation   

Professional   10 

Clerical 25 

Non-salaried   Tradeswomen     3 
Persons  having  an  income 
but  no  salary 


1916 

Men 

1917 

m, 

, 

J 
r 

0) 

be  ^ 
< 

si 

1^ 

be  <D 

83 

$  8.91 

268 

196 

$11.45 

58 

9.93 

7 

36 

11.13 

933 

8.52 

188 

448 

9.46 

119 

10.34 

13 

30 

9.98 

816 

9.45 

87 

306 

11.47 

188 

13.43 

56 

71 

14.50 

219 

11.21 

37 

80 

14.19 

35 

11.80 

2 

4 

12.50 

19 

15.75 

8 

7 

12.43 

132 

12.24 

11 

46 

13.92 

245 

8.67 

52 
43 

60 

10.69 

1916 

Women 

1917 

Average 
Wage  based 
on  Known. 

1 

o 

la 

0)  o 

Average 
Wage  based 
on  Known. 

42 

$4.16 

87 

32 

$5.15 

146 

3.06 

21 

50 

3.03 

197 

3.53 

49 

101 

4.19 

494 

3.38 

166 

266 

3.84 

732 

5.01 

70 

236 

6.17 

8.00 

9 

7.86 

4 

6.90 

103 

5.72 

12 

21 

5.27 

76 

5.26 

42 

19 

7.24 

167 


2.00 


52 


For  the  greater  part  these  wage  earners  have  no  source  of 
income  outside  of  their  own  earning,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  follow- 
ing study  of  the  average  income  of  these  workers,  the  figures 
given  including  the  wage  and  all  other  sources  of  support. 


1916 


Men 


1917 


Occupation  g  g 

o  ^ 

Unknown  135 

Civil  Service  20 

Unskilled  Work 457 

Personal  and  Public  Service  57 
Factory  and  Manufacturing 

Plant  194 

Building  Trades  118 

Transportation  89 

Printing  Trades  21 

Professional   24 

Clerical   63 

Non-salaried  Tradesmen  172 

Persons  having  no  occupa- 
tion but  having  an  income     5 


P3 

1^ 

0) 

bflo; 

(—1 

►5 

OS  o 

?^ 
< 

79 

$  9.10 

250 

214 

$11.48 

59 

10.02 

6 

37 

11.32 

926 

8.62 

185 

451 

9.70 

119 

10.35 

12 

31 

10.21 

806 

9.54 

80 

313 

11.69 

185 

13.50 

54 

73 

14.54 

217 

11.30 

32 

85 

14.48 

35 

11.80 

2 

4 

12.50 

19 

15.75 

8 

7 

12.43 

131 

12.30 

10 

47 

14.33 

245 

8.87 

50 

62 

11.01 

19 

5.58 

15 

28 

6.85 

Women 


1916 


1917 


Occupation  <y  2 

H 

Occupation  unknown  59 

Homework  64 

Unskilled  Work 86 

Personal  Service,  Individual 
and    Family    and    Public 

Service  _ 240 

Factory  176 


si 

< 

bcB 
< 

45 

$4.42 

76 

43 

$6.40 

136 

3.52 

18 

53 

4.05 

191 

3.87 

51 

99 

4.76 

483         3.70     159     273         4.30 
722         5.13       68     238         6.53 


1 

8.00 

9 

8.67 

4 

6.90 

103 

5.87 

13 

20 

5.24 

77 

5.82 

42 

19 

9.06 

53 

Transportation   

Professional   10 

Clerical  25 

Non-salaried   Tradeswomen  58 
Persons  having  an  income 

but  no  salary 15       99         4.75       56     112         6.64 

The  study  also  attempted  to  cover  a  number  of  additional 
features;  the  time  lost  through  illness,  causes  of  loss  of  income, 
average  time  lost  through  unemployment  with  the  cause  of  unem- 
ployment, age  of  the  wage  earner  on  leaving  school,  amount  of 
schooling,  and  present  relation  to  public  education,  but  in  all 
these  cases  the  record  of  information  furnished  by  the  case  re- 
cords proved  inadequate  and  no  conclusion  could  be  based  upon 
the  few  figures  furnished. 

SUB-NORMAL  INDIVIDUALS 

Wherever  the  record  indicated  that  one  or  more  individuals 
in  the  family  were  suffering  under  a  mental,  moral,  or  physica.^ 
handicap,  a  separate  card  was  prepared  for  each  such  individual 
and  the  available  information  sorted  for  tabulation. 

For  the  year  1916  we  found  3,632  sub-normal  men  and  2,506 
sub-normal  women  in  the  5488  families  studied.  For  the  year 
1917  we  found  1,270  sub-normal  men  and  1,160  sub-normal 
women  in  the  3175  families  studied.  These  sub-normal  indi- 
viduals are  classified  according  to  the  Societies  interested  as 
follows : 

No.  of 
Sub-Normal  Persons 
Society  Interested  Men         Women 

Federated  Charities  2456         1855 

Jewish  Federated  Charities 485  322 

Henry  Watson  Children's  Aid  Society 179  292 

Instructive  Visiting  Nurse  Association 499  590 

Prisoners'  Aid  Society 856  72 

Social  Service — Johns  Hopkins  Hospital 132  136 

Society  for  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Children. 152  200 

Supervisors  City  Charities 189  159 

Young  Ladies'  Benevolent  Society 4  40 

4902         3666 


54 

These  sub-normal  persons  were  related  to  the  family  as  follows : 

No.  of  Persons 

Relation  to   Family                                           Men  Women 

Minor 17  28 

Man   : 3343 

Woman 2497 

Child  ' 888  773 

Stepchild  of  Man 32  29 

Stepchild  of  Woman 11  21 

Illegitimate  Child  4  3 

Adopted  Child  ! 5  4 

Other  Child 10  9 

Other  Adult  77  85 

Single   515  217 


4902         3666 

HEREDITARY  AND  COLLATERAL  SUB-NORMALITIES 

An  attempt  was  made  to  determine  whether  or  not  there  were 
corresponding  sub-normalities  in  the  same,  previous,  or  succeed- 
ing generations  of  the  same  family,  but  the  information  fur- 
nished by  the  case  records  was  inadequate  for  this  purpose. 

The  handicapped  individuals  are  sub-classified  by  mental  con- 
dition as  follows : 

No.  of  Persons 
Mental  Condition  Men  Women 

a     No  information  1690         1295 

b  Normal 2342  1415 

c  Retarded 63  47 

d  Feeble-minded 122  141 

e  Insane 266  256 

f  Epileptic 35  45 

JT  Questionable  or  Uninvestigated      358  451 

h  Imbecile  or  Idiotic .     26  16 


4902         3666 

The  extreme  uncertainty  of  amateur  mental  diagnosis  has  led 
the  Bureau  to  class  under  g  "Questionable  or  Uninvestigated," 
all  cases  possibly  or  probably  d,  e,  f,  or  h  where  a  diagnosis  has 


55 

not  been  obtained  from  a  physician.  ''Retarded"  as  used  above 
is  taken  to  mean  a  retardation  of  three  mental  years  or  less  and 
"Feeble-minded"  is  taken  to  mean  a  retardation  of  more  than 
three  mental  years. 

.  The  fact  that  these  mental  handicaps  are  mutually  exclusive 
makes  it  necessary  to  consider  only  one  of  them.  When  the 
physical  or  moral  handicaps  are  considered,  however,  it  is  en- 
tirely possible  that  the  same  individual  may  exhibit  two  or  more 
handicaps. 

Where  an  individual  has  two  or  more  sub-normalities  he  is 
counted  in  the  following  tabulation  once  for  each. 

No.  of  Persons 

Physical  Handicap                                          Men  Women 

No  information  1168  830 

Normal  1821  724 

Crippled  174  157 

Tubercular  704  661 

Blind,  deaf  or  dumb 89  110 

Cancerous   23  45 

Venereal 207  246 

Paralytic  99  84 

Chronic    ailments,    such    as    rheumatism,    heart 

trouble,  old  age,  hernia,  kidney  disease,  etc 619  792 

Undeveloped  or  undergrown 48  52 

Questionable  or  not  diagnosed  139  146 

Other  physical  handicaps 66  62 


5157  3909 

No.  of  Persons 

Moral  Handicap                                          Men  Women 

No  information  918  999 

Incorrigibility  136  61 

None  880  1156 

Drunkenness   248  66 

Use  of  Drugs 39  30 

Sex  immorality  694  1097 

MenHican^ 42  49 

Desertion  and  non-support 1147  59 

Bigamy  : 13  8 


56 

Heavy  drinking,  less  than  drunkenness 1239  255 

Miscellaneous 914  196 

Criminal  neglect  and  cruelty  to  children  and  others  131  26 


6401  4002 
''Miscellaneous"  as  outlined  above  will  include  abortion,  sui- 
cide, theft,  arson,  murder,  assault  and  battery,  disorderly  con- 
duct, and  gambling,  while  sex  immorality  is  used  for  criminal 
assault,  rape,  fornication,  carnal  knowledge,  adultery,  mastur- 
bation and  perversion. 

The  court  record  of  the  individual  may  or  may  not  duplicate 
the  moral  handicaps  recorded  in  the  three  previous  fields,  the 
intention  being  to  record  not  only  a  man^s  moral  defects  as  re- 
ported by  the  investigator  but  also  to  record  those  things  for 
which  he  has  been  under  arrest.  As  above  the  individual  with 
more  than  one  court  record  against  him  is  counted  once  for  each. 

No.  of  Persons 

Court  Records                                           Men  Women 

No  information  1506  1446 

None  1522  2087 

Juvenile  delinquency  206  79 

Major  crimes 121  13 

Minor  crimes  : 853  118 

Crimes  of  sex 98  14 

Desertion  or  non-support,  including  all   cases  in 

which  a  warrant  has  been  issued 788  6 

Bigamy  7  4 


5101         3767 
Under  the  heading  of  minor  crimes  are  included  larceny  under 
the  sum  of  $50.00,  disorderly  conduct,  drunkenness,  assault  and 
battery,  vagrancy,  mendicancy,  public  nuisance,  street  walking 
and  menace  to  public  health. 

Under  major  crimes  are  included  embezzlement,  forgery,  bur- 
glary, murder,  false  pretense,  attempted  suicide  and  man- 
slaughter. 

Under  crimes  of  sex  are  included  white  slavery,  procuring, 
bastardy,  and  other  crimes  arising  in  sex  immorality  as  defined 
above. 


57 

The  institutional  record  of  the  individual  includes  cases  where 
he  is  out  on  parole  or  probation. 

No.  of  Persons 

Institutional  Record                                           Men  Women 

Unknown   1488  1417 

None  1401  1662 

Inmate  of  Mental  Institution Ill  108 

Inmate  of  Tubercular  Institution  263  196 

Inmate  of  Correctional  Institution  (includes  parole 

cases)    1525  191 

Inmate  of  Orphanage  11  20 

Ward  of  Child  Caring  Agency 7  11 

Inmate  of  Deaf,  Dumb  or  Blind  Institution 9  9 

On  parole  or  probation  1 

Inmate  of  Mental  and  Tubercular  Institutions 8 

Inmate  of  Mental  and  Correctional  Institutions 11  1 

Inmate  of  Mental  Institution  and  Orphanage 1 

Inmate  of  Mental  Institution  and  Sanatorium  or 

Hospital   „ 2  1 

Inmate  of  Tubercular  and  Correctional  Institutions     10  2 

Inmate  of  Tubercular  Institution  and  Orphanage 5  1 

Inmate  of  Correctional  Institution  and  Orphanage       5  4 

Inmate  of  Correctional  and  Other  Institution 7 

Inmate  of  Orphanage  and  Ward  of  Child  Caring 

Agency • 2 

Inmate  of  Other  Institutions ...: 49  30 


4906         3663 

Cases  where  the  individual  was  an  inmate  of  an  institution 
at  the  time  of  application  to  the  Society  interested  were  sepa- 
rately studied.     The  classification  is  as  follows: 

No.  of  Persons 

Inmate  of  Men  Women 

Unknown   143  86 

None  - 3550  3415 

Maryland  House  of  Correction  (Jessup's  Cut) 44  2 

City  Jail  255  14 

State  Penitentiary  38  1 


58 

Other  Correctional  or  Penal  Institutions 9  1 

On  Parole .: 641  32 

Maryland  Asylum  and  Training  School 14  12 

Silver  Cross  Home,  Port  Deposit 1 

Bay  View  (Insane  Department)  20  16 

Mount  Hope 4 

Springfield  8  11 

Sheppard-Pratt  1 

Spring  Grove 10  5 

Eudowood  6  5 

State  Sanatorium  (Sabillasville)  7  2 

Jewish  Home  for  Consumptives 7  2 

Pine  Bluff 2 

Bay  View  (Tuberculosis  Department) 10  5 

Kernan's  Hospital  School  2 

Institutions  for  the  Blind 3  3 

Institutions  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb 1  1 

Orphanage  3  4 

Other  Institutions — Parental  School 12  7 

Bay  View  (Almshouse)  4 

Maryland  School  for  Boys 21 

St.  Mary's  Industrial  School  for  Boys 30  2 

Exeter  Street  Home  for  Fallen  Women,  also  Flor- 
ence Crittenden  Home 9 

Maryland  Industrial  School  for  Girls 7 

House  of  the  Good  Shepherd 2  8 

House  of  Reformation  for  Colored  Boys    (Chel- 
tenham)   10 

Industrial  Home  for  Colored  Girls  (Melvale) 3 


4902         3666 


FINANCIAL  STATEMENT 


To  amount  appropriated  by  the  Mayor  and 
City  Council  "for  a  study  of  the  causes 
of  poverty"  $5,000.00 

By  Expenditures  to  December  31st,  1918. 

Salaries   $2,962.48 

Rental  of  Hollerith  Machine 436.00 

Purchase  of  Punching  Machine 30.00 

Hollerith  Cards  60.62 

Miscellaneous  131.82 


$3,620.92 
Balance  1,379.08 


$5,000.00      $5,000.00 


I'HIS  BOOK  IS  nrrTTT:- 


1981 


AUG    51984 


o0/^^-8/26 


l^^v  ./•       ./^-'^; 


398580 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CAUFORNIA  UBRARY 


